Dark Times
by Crowley's.Darling
Summary: Harvey had a job to do and right now he should not be following the lead to a case one of his officers was capable of handling. Curiosity got the better of him though and he was quick to discover that no one stayed dead in Gotham, especially not those that could be twisted into weapons by Fish Mooney and Hugo Strange. (Circa Season 3)
1. Chapter 1

Of all the luck in all the world, Harvey Bullock had to have the shittiest. Acting Captain of the GCPD. _Real honor._ Right. Being up to his ears in paperwork and having every move under a microscope was _not,_ in fact, an honor – more of a punishment for all the crap he'd done wrong.

Of all of it though, Harvey hated the reporters the most. All the flashing lights of the cameras, seeing his ugly mug plastered on every paper in Gotham, stupid question after stupid question. He could do without it.

However, the power he had as acting captain was pretty nice. The ability to send in all available units when Jim Gordon decided to dig into Hugo Strange's lab? Yeah, _that_ felt good. Diving into paperwork at his desk afterward, not so much.

Fresh cup of coffee, box of glazed donuts from Tindy's down the street, oldies station playing some of the greatest hits, and Harvey put his feet up. Barnes ever came back and saw the scuff marks he'd put in the wood, he'd hear it for a week. But for now the office was his.

It'd been about an hour before he started _almost_ -dozing. Truth be told this new schedule affected him a little more than he'd like to admit. The coffee just wasn't doing it at the moment. He stood to stretch his legs, cracked his back, and stared down at the file Alvarez had thrown down some time ago. Squinting, he read and re-read a few words.

And suddenly he was wide awake, grabbing his glasses from where they rested atop his head and pushing them up the bridge of his nose. 'Hostage situation' and 'held at gunpoint' and ' _scars_ '. He lowered himself into his seat at the memory, mouth agape, breathing sharp.

" _Alvarez!_ "

Silence. Nothing. He barely grasped the case file in his hand in the hurry to get up and out of the room. Surveying the precinct, Harvey called one more time.

"Went home, sir," someone called back.

Punching in his number on the phone at his old desk, Harvey waited impatiently as it rang.

"So help me, if it goes to voicemail…"

"Hello?"

"Alvarez. Yeah, I'm gonna need you to walk me through the call you got from this…" he paused to open the file and read the name off. "-Frang guy."

"Bullock, I'm in the middle of dinner."

"Tough. Captain calls, you talk. Now shoot."

There was a heavy sigh. "Mr. Frang called last night – 1 a.m. – said he was held at gunpoint by some psycho with scars all over."

" _Was_ ," Harvey reiterated. "So he called after the guy left."

"Look, Bullock, I did all the follow-up questions and got a description of the guy. If this is because I didn't do the paperwork right…" Alvarez droned.

Harvey flipped through the folder, realizing he hadn't even checked for that. "You didn't. Where's that sheet? Not in here – no description of this guy whatsoever." He slammed his hand down on the desk when he came up with nothing.

"Must be in my desk still. I'll give it to you on Wednesday."

"I'll just grab the damn thing now."

"-I have the key."

"Fuck!"

There was a long pause before Alvarez started talking again. "Look, Harvey, I'm on a date with a pretty woman and I've gotta be honest here: you're ruining the mood."

"Do your fuckin' paperwork right and I wouldn't have to cockblock!" Harvey felt his face reddening due to his screaming. A few passing officers stared at him.

"You're right, my mistake. I'll get it to you on Wednesday."

Harvey sighed, holding his head. "Do you remember what the guy looked like?" Another long pause. "Alvarez!"

"…No."

"Useless." Harvey slammed the phone down then, flipping through the paperwork one more time. Everything _but_ the description of the perp. Beautiful.

Running a hand down his beard, he glanced at Alvarez's empty desk. A couple paperclips and a few weird glances and Harvey was still one paper short. There had to be a master key, but he had no freggin' clue where Barnes kept it.

So, last resort, he grabbed the file once again, slammed his office door, and made a call to Mr. Frang.

"Sir, I _know_ one of my officers took down all the information…right, but…no, I'm acting Captain…yes, I understand that's unbelievable but…well." He ran a hand through his hair. "Look if you're at the shop right now I could come down and…you're not. Right. Is it open?" Harvey grabbed a pen and took down a name. "Alexis Kirk. Got it. And you won't be in for a few days? …Ah, mental health day, right."

Well that phone call got him nowhere good. This Alexis chick wasn't even working when it happened, but she was working today and maybe he could scope out the place. Harvey could feel pressure in his chest and the room felt a few degrees warmer. And then the memories started like a floodgate and he had to sit down to steady his breathing. This wasn't right. He had a job to do and right now he should be focusing on that, not following the lead to a case one of his officers could handle.

Yet he was putting on his jacket and ducking out the door before anyone could ask him any questions. On the corner of 19th and Ritting was a quaint music shop called the Platter-Poruim. Harvey had always wanted to check the place out but his schedule usually didn't allow it. His oversleeping didn't help either.

Coffee in hand, Harvey stepped inside. This time of night he needed something to keep him going or he'd fall asleep before shift ended. Sipping his drink, he glanced around as a bell announced his entrance. Sheet music, a corner of old records, some guitars, bongos, woodwinds…you name it. Yet no broken, boarded up window or any sign of a struggle. Soft music played from a radio somewhere. A loud squeak startled him, nearly making him spill the coffee all over his leather.

A door down a long hallway opened and someone stepped out. "I'll be right with you, sir," a woman spoke and Harvey glanced up in time to see a petite redhead peeking out the door then ducking right back in. Harvey drew closer, narrowing his eyes as he glanced down the hall. "Increasing the size of your reed might make things a bit more difficult on some notes, as you can tell, but I think you're ready for it."

"Thanks, Miss Alexis," a child's voice spoke and Harvey heard some movement in the room.

When his phone vibrated in his pocket, Harvey groaned and doubled-back to the door, glancing at the caller ID. Pennyworth. What in God's name did he want _now?_ Ducking out of the store, Harvey frustratingly answered the ringing thing while trudging to his car.

Another crisis. Another 'I-need-more-info-on-these-monsters' moment and there Harvey was in the middle of a shitshow when he got back to GCPD – empty-handed, mind. Alfred looking mighty infuriated, officers with a dazed deer-in-the-headlights look while he scolded them. Perfect.

Harvey stooped behind passing officers, held up a newspaper beside his head, and ducked into his office before Alfred could find him. He needed answers, sure, but with Jim chasing after Lee, he felt like all Alfred's questions fell on his shoulders and Harvey's mind was elsewhere.

Stuffing a doughnut in his mouth, he searched through the phonebook for the Platter-Porium. Glazed gloriousness half eaten, Harvey put it down to dial. Alfred pulled the door open, already starting his spiel about how Gotham deserved answers and he and Bruce were tempted to leave the city but he had questions before they went anywhere. Harvey held up a finger.

"Hello?"

"Yeah, hi. I was wondering what your hours are tonight," Harvey was adamant about getting this information, even if he had a multitude of things on his plate currently.

"We close at eight o'clock," came the female's voice.

Harvey was tempted to speak with her then, but decided against it – what with the fury Alfred was radiating after he learned it was a personal call and not monster-related. He thanked the woman and hung up.

"Look, Alfred, the most we can do is wait Jim out. I called him for more info and right now he's hunting down his doctor lady. He'll have answers for us, no problem." Hunting her down in _his_ car, might he add. He had to take one of GCPD's for now and, considering he was Captain, he could manage that.

"Jim's told Master B all he knows. What I need right now is your input on monster sightings. Have you or have you not _seen_ any?" Harvey glanced up at the ceiling with a sigh. "I take that as all the evidence I need. Thanks for your time, Bullock. See you in a few months."

He figured that was his cue to leave for the night, but after a few more officers had him sign off on paperwork, it was past 8.

He swung around to the Platter-Porium again anyway, wondering if he could take a look outside the place. When he arrived, he saw movement and lights in the shop but didn't get out of the car. When the lights went off, he watched and waited, hand constantly on his holster, ready to get out at any moment.

Three minutes ticked by before the door opened. The redhead locked the door, tossing the keys in her purse. He sighed. She was probably just closing up. He watched her glance around the street and unlock the car parked out front.

Harvey followed her. He knew he shouldn't have, knew he was long overdue for a brewski, but it was for her protection. If this was the perp he thought it was, the guy was shady and had a history of violence against women.

After she pulled into the driveway, Harvey stopped just before her house and watched to see if she was alone. The interior lights of her car told him she was, but she refused to get out. When the door did open, Harvey decided it was time to move on, grab a drink, stop being paranoid.

The parking lot was dimly lit which added to his anxiety as he made his way to the bar. This couldn't take long. He was in desperate need of sleep and on the way in he'd gotten a call from the shift manager asking for him to stop in before going home – he had some questions about a few new officers starting. So no all-nighter. Half hour, tops.

There were footsteps behind him but he thought nothing of it until they got really close and hurried. Just before he could turn to see what was happening, he had a knife pressed to his back.

"Woah, woah, hey," he called, hands rising in innocence. _This is it,_ he thought for a moment. "You can have my wallet, just let me…" and he stepped forward quickly, spinning on his heels and grabbing the wrist of the person, pressing his fingers in just hard enough for them to drop the knife. He sent them a right hook then reached for the weapon. With it in his hands, he stared his attacker right in the face. A woman. His mouth dropped open when she moved her hand away from the spot he'd hit her. "Alexis?"

"Why the Hell were you following me? And how do you know my name?" she pulled her fingers away, checking for blood.

Harvey sighed. "I was just checking out the place after what happened yesterday."

"So you followed me _home_?" She snapped. "Wait. You're Detective Bullock, aren't you?"

"In the flesh."

She still looked confused. "What happened yesterday?"

He narrowed his eyes a moment. "Frang didn't tell you?"

"What?"

"About the breaking and entering…?" Harvey waited, dropped his hands to his sides. "You _are_ Alexis, right? From The Platter-Porium?" she nodded. "You've gotta be kiddin' me…" he looked up, shook his head. "Frang didn't tell you he was held at gunpoint last night?" At her wide-eyed reaction, Harvey knew the answer. "Great boss ya got there, really. He's fine, by the way."

"Niles? Niles Frang was held at gunpoint and didn't say something to get himself shot?" she laughed. "Honestly, that's a feat."

"He told me you weren't working last night, but you would be today. I just wanted to keep an eye out and make sure the jackass didn't come back." Harvey looked around the parking lot as a few guys walked to their cars. "While you're here, I got a few follow-up questions I'm wondering if you could help me with." He glanced at the knife in his hand, spun it so the handle was facing her, and offered it back.

"I don't really know anything, but I'll try," she spoke, looking over his shoulder to read the neon sign of Finnigan's Bar.

"By the way, next time you go wielding a knife, just a suggestion but put it to their neck – you're more likely to avoid the fisticuffs."

"You were too tall," she shrugged, taking the knife from him with a short laugh.

So she followed him into the bar, closing the switchblade and shoving it in her purse.

"We gotta make this quick, I'm kinda ditching work right now," he grabbed the door for her.

She raised an eyebrow at him as she entered. "You're acting Captain now, aren't you? And you're playing hooky?"

Harvey groaned. "Look, I didn't ask for this, it was just thrown at me. Besides, I used to do this when I was just a detective."

"That doesn't make it any better."

"Okay, all-mighty voice of reason, sit." He pulled out a barstool for her at the counter and ordered a beer for himself. When he turned to her, she said she'd have the same and Harvey hid his surprise. "Pegged you as a wine kinda gal."

She shrugged. "Anything with alcohol right now, thanks."

"Okay, so Frang didn't mention anything about the guy, we know that, but have you had any suspicious activity at work lately? Any weird customers?"

She pondered that a moment then thanked the bartended when he brought their drinks. "It's a music shop, we always get strange customers." She took a sip. "Weird goth kids with their crazy colored hair and those huge pants with the chains on them." A nod. "But there was this guy the other day…he had these scars."

"Scars," Harvey repeated. "By his mouth?"

Her eyes widened and she shook her head. "No. A few on his arms and neck –like he'd been involved in something pretty recently. He just had that _edge_ , yanno? Like…chaos."

"Did he have dark hair…like black hair?" Now this was the question Harvey knew he wasn't supposed to ask. He was supposed to ask for more details and hope she could give them. Prompting her like this could blow up in his face, but he needed to know. Maybe she hadn't seen his face well enough to see those scars by his mouth.

She shook her head. "No. Not black hair. Reddish."

Harvey bit his tongue, looking down a moment before taking a long drink. So it wasn't Tom. He'd hoped it was. He'd hoped that Tom would show his ugly mug back in this city so Harvey could beat him to death.

"Must be him."

"That's…the one who held Niles at gunpoint?" Alexis asked.

Harvey nodded. "Did he say anything to you?"

"Called me 'gorgeous'," she recounted. "Just flipped through some records and kept looking at me. I thought he was going to rob the place with how shifty he was acting, but another customer came in and he left."

Harvey finished his drink in two more gulps and placed the mug on the bar, not lifting his eyes from the left over froth.

"Your boss told me he's takin' time off. Are you gonna be in, in the next few days?"

Alexis nodded but he wasn't looking at her. "It's me and my coworker covering his shifts. I'm in all this week."

"Good." Harvey pulled out his wallet, tossed some cash on the bar, and stood. "I'll be in touch."


	2. Chapter 2

"Bullock," a voice called over the cacophony of the precinct. "You got a phone call."

Harvey groaned, rolling his eyes before trudging up the stairs to the office once again, car keys in hand. He'd just decided to take a break and the pastry shop down the street was sounding mighty good right now, but it would have to wait.

He didn't even round the desk, just reached over to pick up and punch in the numbers for the parked call.

"Yeah?"

"Harvey? This is Lexi, from the music shop."

"Oh, yeah, hey." He stretched his leg back and kicked the door closed, rounding his desk to take a seat. "Is there somethin' I can do for you?"

She sighed. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but there are masks all over the building."

Harvey shook his head, eyes closed. " _Masks_?"

"Yeah. Like…clown masks. All over."

"Clown masks."

"That's what I'm saying," she groaned. "I know I could have just called a random officer but you seemed really adamant about this and…" she trailed off. "I haven't even gone in yet because I don't know what the Hell to expect."

Harvey stood once again. "Okay, don't. I'll…uh…I'll be right there."

He got there in ten minutes to find Alexis leaned against her car up front, key in hand. He jogged over slowly and stopped beside her, gazing up at the bricks.

"Holy mother of Pennywise," he gaped at the building littered with plastic clown masks then glanced down at Alexis. "Mind if I take a walk around before we go in?"

She motioned for him to go. "Be my guest."

The windows were all intact, back door was locked, the ladder to the fire escape was down, but Harvey was not feeling very athletic at the moment. When he returned to Alexis, she was trying to calm down an irate customer. Harvey heard enough and flashed his badge as he approached.

"Look, sir, I get that you're worried about being first in line for the latest Dave Mathews album, but I'm gonna need you to back it down until we're done here."

Alexis bit back a laugh and the two of them watched as the man stormed back to his car.

"I would yell at you about shushing away our customers, but…"

"Hey, you're dishing it, I can take it."

She shook her head, small smile still on her face. "Did you find anything?"

"Your fire escape ladder always down?"

Her eyes widened and Harvey had his answer before she even spoke, "No…"

He nodded. "'S'what I thought." With that, he grabbed his gun out of its holster and held his hand out for her keys to which she gave him tentatively. "Stay here." And she did.

The place was dark, curtains drawn still and Harvey fumbled for the light switch. A quick look around got him nowhere and he came back outside, gun safely back in its holster again.

"Well?"

He shook his head. "You can go in." As she bustled passed him, Harvey wondered where her vehemence came from. "Anything missing? Out of place?" he droned, following her in.

"No," her voice was soft and expression hard to read. "I'm sorry for calling you out here for this."

He raised his hand. "Hey, no problem. Somethin's goin' on here." It'd been three weeks since Alvarez got wind of the case and since it had been quiet. "Probably some snot-nosed punks playing some kind of prank. You hear about those clown sightings in East End?" She shook her head. "Couple of my guys got a call last week about some clowns blocking traffic. Went to check it out and found nothin' but one of those toy horn things lying in the street."

With the monsters running loose, he didn't have time or muscle to put more push on investigating strange human occurrences. The freaks running around were more dangerous in his mind.

"So you think it might be connected?"

He simply shrugged. "Could be. Might be something completely different. You never know with Gotham."

She sighed, tossing her purse down. When she turned back to Harvey he was eyeing a guitar hanging on a column.

"You play?"

"Huh? Oh…a…a little," he shrugged. "Nothin' spectacular." There was a silence. "Do you?"

"Just started and I'm horrible," she shook her head. "My coworker is amazing so he's trying to teach me while I teach him saxophone."

Harvey smiled. "No way. You play the sax?" he bit back his innuendo and tried to behave like a proper adult. "That's sweet."

She shrugged. "I guess if you're into smooth jazz."

Harvey chuckled, shaking his head when he looked back at the guitar. "So I should probably get back…" he stepped toward the counter, grabbing one of the store's business cards lying there. He flipped it over and started writing down a number. "This is my cell. If anything else happens, call me there first." He didn't want Alvarez to get wind of this one. Not yet.

"Captain," she interrupted and he still got a jolt whenever someone called him that – especially a woman. He raised his eyes to her. "What am I supposed to do about the masks?"

"Oh. Right…" he trailed off. "Got a ladder?"

She did, in fact, have a ladder in the utility closet which was by the stairs that lead to the roof. Harvey decided to check that out as well while she took the ladder out front. The roof was clear. No sign of anyone, but there was a torn up box from the local hardware store. He brought it down with him and stood beside the ladder Alexis was already on.

"Question," he paused. "What are those up there with?" He narrowed his eyes and noticed she was wearing gloves.

"Uh…" she grabbed the mask off easily and pulled at the brick then handed them down to Harvey, slowly stepping down the ladder. "No idea."

Harvey turned the metal over in his hand and Alexis sighed. He gave her a look.

"I'm wearing these gloves 'cause I thought you were dusting for prints."

"Oh," was all he said at first. "Well shit," he read the back of the box. "Your little friend knew to get brick hangers. Else he'd have to drill into your building which would have alerted the neighbors." He showed her the box the hangers came in. "Found this on your roof."

His phone rang and he grumbled, cussing under his breath. "Bullock…yeah…I…you incompetent piece of…get back out there and take him out. He had a _what_? ... harpoon…really?"

Alexis tried to ignore his conversation and focus on the mask in her hands, but Harvey's words startled her. What was going on in this city?

When he ended the call, she vocalized her realization. "This was hand-painted," she showed him. "Either they did it themselves or they bought it from a shop like that…I've never seen anything like it."

Harvey pocketed his phone, finally taking a look at the mask in her hands. "Alexis…" he paused.

"What?"

"Got any more gloves?"

"Yeah…why?"

"-That's not paint. That's blood."

She practically dropped the thing on the sidewalk then, breath caught in her throat. Leaving the mask on the ladder, she rushed inside the shop. Harvey was tempted to go after her, see if she was alright, but the need for a cigarette was too strong. So he pulled out his pack and lit one, inhaling deeply.

This could be tied to those clowns in East End. This could be tied to a lot things at the moment and Harvey had so much on his plate with these monsters, he really should be getting back to GCPD. The look on Alexis' face when she came back out made Harvey ache. God, he wished pretty girls weren't always stumbling into creepy shit in this city. God, he wished he hadn't just noticed she was pretty.

She gave him a pair of gloves and he offered her his hip flask. Though she seemed tentative, she unscrewed the cap and poured some back.

"What the fuck is going on in this city?" she asked quietly.

Harvey really didn't want her to know that this was just the tip of the iceberg. This was just a little peek behind the curtain of the grotesque and horror Gotham was starting to offer. Freaks running the streets, mobsters owning businesses, dead bodies popping up everywhere, pretty women getting killed by underground crime bosses…

He closed his eyes for a second and breathed sharply through his nose before looking at her again. She was offering his flask back, tucking her red hair behind her pierced ear, and staring at his cigarette hanging from his lips.

"You stayin' open today?"

She shrugged slowly then nodded. "Called my boss when you were on your way. He said as long as nothing was taken, I better have the place open."

Harvey scoffed. "Sounds like a dick." She gave him a look then shook her head, laughing. When her eyes trailed upward toward the building again, Harvey's eyes followed after he stomped out his cigarette.

"Do you need all of them or…?"

Harvey took two for good measure. Tossed them in one of the music shop's white plastic bags and threw them in his trunk. Alexis was on the ladder getting the rest down when he drove back to work.

Harvey was a good detective, a decent captain, but with something like this lurking he felt like he needed Jim more than ever

For once his phone didn't go to voicemail when he called. "Jim?!"

"Hiya, Harvey."

"Look, I got lotsa questions, but first, what the Hell? I sound like a jaded prom date, but why haven't you returned any of my calls?"

"Got busy."

"Where _are_ you?"

There was a sound on the other line that Harvey knew well – mouth popping off the lip of a bottle. "Home."

" _Home_? Jim, you're back in Gotham and you haven't even told me?" Harvey was livid. "How long?"

"'Bout a week."

"A week."

"Yeah. And?"

Harvey ran a hand down his face. " _And_ I thought it was an unspoken rule to call when you got back from chasing down the good doctor, partner."

"I don't work for GCPD anymore, Harv. We aren't partners. Hell, you're captain now."

"-Are you drinking?" Harvey accused. "Okay, whatever, look, I've got this case I'm poking around on and I could use your help."

"Fine. Meet me at my place. Oh, and Harvey?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you pick up a six pack?"

When Jim hung up, Harvey groaned then practically threw his phone at the wall.


	3. Chapter 3

Six weeks later Barnes was back in rotation. Back to chewing Harvey out for stupid shit he did on the job, back to threatening him because of Jim. Honestly, it was a headache. Better than having the media breathing down his neck, but this Jervis Tetch shit was getting old. Tracking down Jim and saving his ass was getting old. Getting him to leave crime scenes because he wasn't a detective anymore was infuriating.

"Jim, I'm not gonna tell you again. Barnes has me by the _balls_ , okay? You need to cut it out."

Yet his warnings always fell on deaf ears and reckless Jim was consistently getting him into deep shit with the captain. Threats of being fired were flying daily. Yet Harvey never once gave up on Jim. He couldn't.

And then there was Jim's suicide ideation brought on by Tetch. Harvey knew it wasn't really _Jim_ , but the thought still shook him to the core. How many months ago was it that Jim was talking Harvey off the ledge? One drunken night that Harvey's gun was looking mighty fine and the bullets felt heavy in the palms of his hands. The coward had called his partner, tanked-up and proclaiming what he'd thought of doing. Jim didn't leave him alone for a week.

"Don't argue with me, you stubborn ass –we're getting _shots_." Harvey motioned to the bartender, hand clamping down on Jim's shoulder so he couldn't leave. "Look partner, you did the same for me, remember?"

"No," Jim's eyebrows furrowed. "I remember you being so drunk you threw up on your gun and couldn't load the bullets. This isn't the same."

"Yeah, well, same message."

"…How?"

"Would you just shut up and take the shot?" Harvey's goal wasn't to get plastered tonight, but he needed to get in Jim's head. No tiptoeing around either. "So, Tetch's little hocus pocus on you is…"

"-Gone, yeah." Jim grumbled after taking two shots with Harvey. "Still pissed he got away."

Harvey nodded in agreement, eyes closing for a second as he fought off the image of Alice Tetch impaled on a pike, blood dripping like Chinese water torture below. He held his head, groaning with a rub of his temples.

"Hey, you okay?" Jim's voice broke through and Harvey's eyes jolted back open.

"Yeah, m'fine," Harvey lied. Jim raised his chin, disbelief plastered across his face, but to Harvey's surprise he dropped it. "I'm supposed to be askin' _you_ that, partner."

Jim simply grunted at him before taking another shot.

 _James Gordon is gonna get you killed one day._

Barnes' words rang in Harvey's ears and he decided another shot would do the trick. Hell, maybe four more just in case. He was feeling things again, now that he had time to focus on anything aside from acting captain. The nightmares were back and no amount of alcohol or pills could change that fact. Jim's emptiness was evident and it killed Harvey knowing what this job did to the white knight – what it'd done to _him_. He'd told him: no heroes. Hadn't he? Hadn't Dix told him the same thing? Had _he_ listened? No. But he'd been hopeful that Jim would.

And here they were with a bottle between them and nothing but silence to fill the void they'd come to know.

Jim was still hurting over Lee, which was obvious. And a love like that? No model-thin reporter was going to erase what they had. Jim was looking haggard – all the drinking and the late nights catching monsters. Lee's engagement to Mario was taking its toll on the ex-detective, even if he didn't admit it aloud. This Valerie Vale was a placeholder and they both knew it. Harvey didn't have to pry it out of Jim, it was clear.

"Barnes say anything about springing me from suicide watch?" Jim broke their silence and Harvey tore his gaze away from the bar's mirror.

"Guy's full 'a hot air, he's always got somethin' to say." His sight set right back on the mirror, narrowing his eyes at the ladies in the corner booth.

"Am I boring you, Harvey?" Jim's voice droned on.

"Hm?" he glanced at him then back. "Ah, no, just…uh…thought I saw someone I know."

"Don't tell me it's Scottie. Harv, you need to…-"

"Not Scottie," Harvey muttered. "This chick I met following up on one of Alvarez's cases, like, three months ago."

"The one with the clown masks?" Jim recalled after a moment. Nodding, Harvey finished off his beer. "Go talk to her."

"Yeah, pass," Harvey motioned to the bartender.

"…Why?"

"She's young, Jim," he thought that would be enough but his partner was still giving him that look. "'Cause a pasty Irish guy like me ain't gonna fit the bill, okay?" He didn't spill the word vomit of ' _besides she reminds me of a certain someone_.'

Jim just shook his head, sipping on his beer. The two had spoken countless times about Harvey's situation. It wasn't something they needed to go back into tonight, or so Harvey thought.

"I'm gonna say what I always say, Harv: there was nothing you could've done differently."

Only there was and they both knew it. He could've turned down the job, not trusted the wrong guy. Yet here he was with all the memories flooding back to him; all the secrets, all the half-truths he told himself just to get through another day –to check off that calendar and hope to God he didn't look back.

"Another Labatt," Harvey called to the barkeep.

"-Make that two," came a voice from behind him. Harvey glanced back. "Captain, fancy seeing you here." Alexis stood beside him, raising her arm to rest on his shoulder. Her cheeks were pink and eyes a little glassy.

"Alexis, hey! Hate to disappoint, but I'm not Captain anymore, Barnes is back at it."

"Aw, damn. No more power tripping for you," she winked at him. "You come to bars by yourself often?"

Harvey could still feel the tingle in his fingertips from being referred to as 'captain' again. "Actually, I'm here with my…well, ex-partner, Jim." As Alexis peeked around him he leaned back and resisted the urge to take in the slight cleavage peeking out of her top just inches from his face.

"Jim Gordon, right?"

"Yeah, hey. Nice to meet you."

Her arm was still on him, but her fingers played with the ends of his hair. A jolt of _something_ shot through Harvey and he found himself taking another gulp of beer.

"What are you doin' out during work hours?" Harvey joked. "Store's still standin', right?"

"At this point, I wouldn't care if it wasn't," she rolled her eyes and sighed, glancing behind her then stepping closer to his thigh. Her eyes trailed up to the TV screen above the bar. "And this is why we're out drinking tonight." Oswald Cobblepot was shown with the words 'winner' scrolled underneath.

"So Penguin's the new mayor of Gotham?" Harvey shook his head. "What have we gotten ourselves into?"

"Nothing good," Alexis mumbled, removing her arm from Harvey's shoulder. "Jim, another drink?"

"Thanks, but no," Jim held up his next shot. "I'm covered."

She pulled out some cash and slapped it on the bar as their drinks came. Harvey fished for his wallet but her hand was on his arm before he could get it. He paused when he felt her squeeze his bicep. "Please, detective, it's on me."

She grabbed her beer and went back to her booth before Harvey could manage anything. He merely watched her go.

"So," Jim interrupted Harvey's stare, "still think she wouldn't be interested?"

"Ahhh, shut it, Boy Scout."

The next time he saw Jim, there was a nervous look on his face. Several weeks since their drinking excursion – since Harvey passed out on Jim's couch and slept until 2 p.m. Woken up by Jim's new squeeze looking down her nose at him. He'd laughed it off, knowing that Jim was kicking him out because he was about to get his willy wet. But Jim's humored expression was gone when he stopped by with a case of beer and a few pizzas. Work had been busy as shit. He'd assumed Barnes was giving him cases just to fill his time and steer him away from Jim. To Harvey's annoyance, it'd worked.

He'd been looking forward to seeing him. It'd been too long and he missed Jim's presence. But the look he was giving him made Harvey wonder what was up. The older man honestly didn't want to ask. It was probably related to his girlfriend, probably some touchy-feely crap that he didn't wanna hear about.

After a half hour, two drinks, and too many awkward silences, he broke. "Okay, you're lookin' at me like someone who just masturbated before shaking my hand. What gives?"

Jim didn't react to that, just sat staring and blinking slow at the TV. "She come in yet?"

" _What_? Who?"

"That girl from the bar. Uh…Alexis?"

"What are you…-"

Now he made eye contact. "She quit her job, Harv." He was interested, yet not. Honestly, she'd been on his mind since the night at the bar. Since she flirted with him _sorta_ and bought him a beer and squeezed at his bicep. Harvey hadn't really ever been fawned over before. The way she _looked_ at him. It was honestly arousing. "The last monster I bagged tore up that record store pretty bad. After I got him, she was on the phone with her boss. She got pretty angry."

"Okay, so?"

"So…we got to talkin' and she's got a degree in library science."

"' _Library science'_?" Harvey repeated. "That's a thing?"

Jim stared blankly. "Yeah, that's a _thing_ , s'what Kringle had." Harvey sipped his beer. "If I'm right, no one's stepped into her old position." He _was_ right so Harvey couldn't correct him. "So I told her to call Barnes."

"You _what_?"

A shrug. "Pretty sure someone finally getting back into that job is the least of your concerns, Bullock."

Irritation crept up Harvey's spine. Jim had no right poking around in his business like that. No right to be bothering a potentially interested party and suggesting that they _work with him_.

"Jim-" his voice rose, ears reddening as he pointed a finger at the ex-detective.

"Calm down, Harvey. The place was a mess, she was angry…she probably forgot I'd even said anything."

So he let it roll off. Even if she did call, was Barnes in that desperate need to get the position filled? They'd been going on just fine getting files themselves. Well, _getting them_ wasn't the problem. The problem was that no one put them back correctly. Finding them again was a whole other issue.

"You _tryin'_ to make things awkward for me? Because it sure seems like it."

"It's only awkward if you _make it_ awkward, Harv. Besides, isn't it about time you moved on? After Scottie and…" Harvey shot him a look. "Yeah. Okay." And the subject was dropped.

Yet when he walked into work that next morning, there was a pretty little woman in a pretty little dress sitting in Barnes' office doing paperwork.

"Juuuuust great…" Harvey muttered to himself.


	4. Chapter 4

"Bullock, welcome aboard our new Record Keeper, Alexis Kirk," Barnes introduced her, all cheery. It was like he'd completely missed the irritation on Harvey's face, like he hadn't noticed that there was a pretty woman who was possibly interested in the chubby detective – at least when she was tipsy – and he just _hired her to work in close proximity to him._

Harvey had been trying to stay away from these situations –hadn't even had a hookup in months. When he was a high-profile captain of the GCPD, who knew what kinda wack jobs were lookin' to fuck with him. And he couldn't live with anyone else getting killed because of him. He couldn't bear the guilt.

"Hi," Harvey spoke tightly, shaking her hand then brushing right passed her and grabbing onto Barnes' shoulder. "Can we talk?"

"Bullock, not now. I've gotta show her the file room and get her situated. Place is a goddamn mess."

"Cap…"

"-It's fine. I can wait," Alexis assured sweetly and Harvey found himself rolling his eyes, trying his damnedest to be agitated by her. Maybe he could make himself hate her…

Office door closed, Harvey spoke quietly. "Look, this was Jim's suggestion. Okay? Jim Gordon? You know: tiny little pipsqueak, always making messes for you to fix?"

"I don't see what you're getting at," Barnes spoke.

Harvey clasped him on the shoulder again. "Pretty, petite thing like that in the big madhouse? You really think this is a solid idea?"

"She's highly qualified for the position, Bullock," his eyes searched Harvey's face. "Wait…you two…?" his eyes flashed out the window to Alexis. "I know your type, Bullock."

"No! No, no…" Harvey pulled away from him. "I'm just trying to be helpful."

"When have _you_ ever been helpful?" Barnes accused, hobbling toward the door but pausing before opening it. He didn't turn when he spoke, "If this is because of the situation you found yourself in last year, you have nothing to worry about." A heavy ache settled itself between Harvey's ribs "She stays."

He slammed the door and Harvey stood in the office that was temporarily his not too long ago. Running his hand down his beard, he stared unblinking at the desk. Barnes had been right, the bastard. This _was_ about the situation from last year. This was about a monster unlike any of the foul ones walking the streets of Gotham currently.

He wouldn't let her get close, he decided. It wasn't safe.

* * *

Mid-bite into a barbeque pulled pork sub, he saw her finally come out of that file room. He averted his attention too late and she made eye contact. Pretty soon a set of heel clicks sounded beside him but he didn't look up. There was paperwork on the desk that he probably shouldn't be eating over, but it would give the illusion he was working.

"Detective?" she spoke softly. Acting startled, Harvey quickly glanced up at her.

"Oh, Alexis!"

"I just…um…" her cheeks reddened. "Do you happen to have Jim Gordon's number? I…wanted to thank him for suggesting this job."

Harvey's eyes widened, mouth opening just slightly. Maybe he'd had her pegged wrong. Mind tracing back to the bar and the foggy memories: maybe he'd misjudged her. Maybe she hadn't been flirtatious – with him. Maybe Jim…

"Uh…yeah! Yeah. I got it…right here…" he put down the sub, wiped his hands, then dug through his pocket for his phone.

"Thank you, Harvey," she waited patiently as he jotted down Jim's number. When he handed it to her, he noticed her eyes were taking in the precinct. "So, how long do you think it'll take me to learn everyone's names?"

Harvey shrugged. "I'm still learning," he joked with a laugh. He wanted to end it there, not get friendly, but his curiosity got the best of him. "Couldn't take the record shop anymore?"

Alexis sighed softly. "Hated to do it, but it was a pretty rough part of town. With the amount of times I've been robbed there, the clown masks, and now the monster thing?"

"Yeah, that's shitty," Harvey agreed.

"Jim really helped out the other night. He was there before I even got a chance to call 911."

"That's Jim for ya." He picked up the sub and glanced back at the paperwork he wasn't really reading.

"Goodnight, Harvey," she placed her hand on his shoulder before making her way to the door.

Harvey couldn't help but watch her go, weaving away from desks and busy officers. The sway of her dress made memories flood his mind, but he focused on his food instead. So maybe he was overreacting and she was crushing on Jimbo. That might be good; give him an option other than Lee and Vale.

* * *

Having Jim back at GCPD was – to Harvey's surprise – a relief. Though he did get them into more headaches, Harvey missed having his partner there. That morning was no different –especially when Jim bought them breakfast burritos.

"Barnes been acting strange?" Jim inquired as Harvey started unwrapping the deliciousness.

"You're gonna have to be more specific, partner," Harvey spoke before taking a huge bite. "You mean angrier? Yeah." He swallowed. "I just assumed it's blue balls or some shit."

Jim's face fell, shooting him a deadpan look before asking, "And what about you, Harv?"

"What _about_ me?" at his reply, Jim shot him another look. "Swimmin' in it, partner, can't ya tell?" He took another large bite.

At the sound of heel clicks behind him, Harvey felt himself tense and he tried to busy himself. It was becoming a habit. Jim bit back a grin.

"Harvey, here are those files you needed." Lexi set down a stack beside him.

"What files?" he spoke, mouth still full.

"-The ones about the Nicholson Avenue case. Jim told me you needed them."

Suddenly Harvey looked at his partner who was grinning widely. "You mean the case that's been closed for five months now. That we have _nothing else to investigate_ about," he spoke pointedly at Jim.

"Uh…I'm not sure. I…" she glanced at Jim then, a sudden realization hitting her. "If you boys are playing some kind of game, I'm _not_ joining you."

Harvey shook his head. "M'sorry, he just started on the job. Clueless rookie." He handed the files back to Lexi knowing that this was Jim's stupid attempt at some kind of matchmaking.

"Thank you, Lexi," Jim laughed. "I'm sorry. Won't happen again. _Unprofessional._ "

Harvey took her in then and noticed the pinkness to her cheeks. She was clearly humored; at him or Jim he didn't know.

"When you boys are done playing games, go check out the breakroom. I made a bunch of brownies if anyone's interested."

With that, she took the file and walked away. Jim chuckled at Harvey's expression.

"She _said_ she was gonna make brownies…" Jim shook his head, smirking.

Harvey's mouth fell open. "What, you're _talkin'_ to her now?" Vale had broken up with him two days ago.

"Since when did you care, Harv?" Jim retorted. He narrowed his eyes as he finished his burrito. "She called to thank me for the job suggestion the other night when I was...debilitated." _Drugged_ , Harvey remembered.

"I didn't need an explanation," Harvey assured him, standing up from his desk.

Jim scoffed. "Harvey, stop isolating yourself."

"I don't know what you're-"

"-Cut the crap, Harv. You're clearly trying to avoid her because of Elizabeth."

And there it was. Harvey grabbed onto the railing beside him, fingers gripping until they were white. No one had spoken her name in almost a year, not even Alfred. He held his breath; bit his tongue until it bled.

"Jim…" his voice broke slightly.

Gently Jim shook his head. "You can't keep doing this to yourself, man."

His focus was on his breathing: even, in, out. "If you'll excuse me," his voice sounded foreign to him. "Some brownies are calling my name." One foot in front of the other, he started down the stairs. _Unsteady_ –he was so unsteady.

"Enjoy," Jim said earnestly.

How he ended up in the office, he didn't know. One minute he was walking down the hall to the break room, the other he'd made a sharp left into Elizabeth's old office. Same old empty desk, few storage boxes thrown in there now that the room was abandoned. The window was long sealed shut. It felt like yesterday was that spring day, breeze blowing through the window, Harvey breaking down in the office, Elizabeth's gentle fingers on his shoulder as she set aside all her counseling training and let him pull her into his lap.

But now he hardened himself, cleared his throat, straightened out his jacket, and made his way to the breakroom like he wasn't struggling to breathe.


	5. Chapter 5

"You've gotta be kidding me…" Harvey was staring down the barrel of a gun; hands raised, fingers splayed, cursing Jim in his head.

It'd been _his_ bright idea to return to that crime scene – _his_ bright idea to believe that Barnes was in on a murder. And Harvey's attempt to prove him wrong led him right back to that scene, back to the blood splatters on the walls and the oozing puddle where a severed head once lay. That chalupa he'd downed on his drive made its way back up and all over the floor.

This job was too much most days.

When his stomach stopped lurching, Harvey had heard footsteps behind him. He'd been a second too late to grab his gun. So there he was once again; gun pointed at his temple.

"Heard you were a drunk," the man said.

His eyes narrowed as he observed the guy, recognition never striking him. Maybe this was the killer after all, returning to the scene; Barnes wasn't guilty.

"Look-" Harvey started, hoping to talk his way out of this one.

"I've got a lotta jobs to do today, so I don't wanna hear it. You listen close: we know where to find you if you don't follow instructions. Meet on 79th and Bolard –the warehouse. Two a.m. Tell them you're there to see Tom."

" _Tom_?" Harvey stared wide-eyed. The man lowered his gun, putting the safety back on. "As in _The Knife_ , Tom?"

The man smirked. "You had to have known he's back in town. Detective, right?" Harvey didn't reply, just let his eyes lose focus as his fists clenched, ears reddening. "Just be there."

Harvey hadn't realized what he was doing until he felt the warm blood on his knuckles. The hitman was against the wall, Harvey's fist clenched around his collar, blood pooling from his oozing gums. Knuckles throbbing, he hit him once more for good measure.

"You tell him I'm going to rip him to shreds. Got me?" He growled, jaw clenching as he tried to suppress his pure rage. "Two a.m. he's a dead man."

Letting him go, Harvey sauntered out of there and back to his car. White-knuckling it all the way back to GCPD, he couldn't think of anything but the way Tom had betrayed him all that time ago. He'd lost sight of it –let the Captain title extinguish every urge to search the city for that bastard. Distracted – he'd gotten distracted.

The precinct was absolutely buzzing by the time Harvey arrived but he didn't even look up at anybody. Eyes unblinking, he made his way back to his desk and sat himself in his chair.

"Bullock…?" Lucius' voice pierced through the cacophony. "Uh…your knuckles…"

Glancing up and snapping out of it, he found Lucius and Alexis chatting beside Barnes' office. Lucius hadn't taken his eyes off of Harvey's bloodied and bruised knuckles but Alexis was rushing off.

"Gordon around?" Harvey asked, ignoring the curious look Lucius gave him.

"Uh…no," the other man shook his head, glancing at Alexis who had returned with tissues and an icepack. "You…haven't heard?"

"Heard what?"

Alexis covered her palm over Harvey's knuckles, pressing into the sensitive skin without a word. Harvey tried not to notice her.

"Jim shot an unarmed suspect and tried taking out Barnes…supposedly," Lucius voiced.

" _What!?_ No, no, that's not right. Where is he?" Harvey demanded, pulling out his phone with his free hand. 1 voicemail from Jim. Listening to it, Lexi looked over at him, placing the icepack over the tissues on his hand.

Jim's voice droned over the phone, reciting streets and sounding hurried. "Shit," Bullock hung up, rising suddenly, feeling guilty for being so damn caught up in his shit with Tom that he hadn't even known his phone rang.

"Take the ice," Lexi suggested, pushing it into his hand. Harvey paused, stared at her a second, and then nodded before taking off.

First he made a stop into Lee's office and filled her in on Barnes being infected with the Alice Tetch virus; convinced her to tell the others. They would believe the medical examiner.

Ice pack sitting on his knuckles as he drove, Harvey's mind ran through the street names Jim had repeated on the voicemail. 79th and Bolard…no. Jim had said 133rd and 6th. Tom was at the other address. Tom was in town, right under his nose for God knows how long and Harvey was too _busy_ with work to search him out. He huffed, tossing the ice pack to the passenger's seat and glancing at his bruised knuckles. Now was _not_ the time to focus on that. Later. He'd have to take care of it later.

It'd been a Hell of a day already, but he never expected to be arresting Barnes.

"You need a ride back, right?" Harvey asked Jim, fidgeting out of the bulletproof vest now that they had Barnes in cuffs. He let Alvarez take the Captain back. And then he spoke some uncharacteristic words to Jim: "Can we talk?"

Of course Jim was all too eager to say yes. Asking wasn't the problem; getting the words to come out of his mouth was. And he had to hand it to Jim – he'd actually been pretty patient with him while the silence lingered in the car.

"Harv-"

"-Ran into a hitman today. At the scene earlier." He paused, breathed, cleared his throat.

"Yeah?"

"Works for Tom."

" _Tom_. As in _The Knife,_ Tom?" Jim's voice rose.

Nodding slowly, Harvey continued. "Told me where to be. Two a.m. Tom's gonna be there."

Silence fell again and soon Jim asked, "So you're going?" A pause. He looked at him, but Harvey didn't break gaze from the road. "You know it's a setup, Harvey. You're gonna walk right in there and-"

"Come with me." Harvey had been thinking of this for an hour now. Jim having his back sounded like his best option when he ran into crap like this, but he also considered going it alone.

He could tell Jim was looking him over, taking in his bloodied knuckles. "You're sure about this?" No response. "Then I'm in." Another pause followed. "But we gotta make it quick tonight. You need your sleep. With Barnes in Arkham, looks like you'll be Captain again."

"Looks like," Harvey spoke stiffly.

"You okay with that?"

"M'fine."

Jim had talked Harvey into going home for the day and getting some rest. Sounded like a great idea until he actually lay down and couldn't sleep. Twenty-five minutes later, he gave up. Decided to shower, eat something, clean his guns, take a look at his whammy drawer.

Brass knuckles, a Taser, his .45, and a silencer. He didn't know what to expect. He did know one thing: he was nervous. What could Tom possibly want from him? Why had he drawn attention to himself when he could've easily hid out until Harvey caught wind of him? It didn't make sense.

Harvey tried relaxing: turning on the TV, smoking a few cigarettes, even had a shot of whiskey, but nothing worked. He wound up pacing until Jim knocked on the door.

When he opened up, Jim looked rested and ready –surely he hadn't been kept up by the memories of his dead girlfriend, right?

"You didn't sleep, did you?" his partner droned. Harvey rolled his eyes, shutting the door behind him while running a hand down his beard. "Harvey, you're killing me."

"Jim, I just…I can't get out of my head long enough to sleep, okay?" Harvey held his hands out in front of him then slapped them on his thighs.

"Maybe tonight will bring you some closure."

They were early –six minutes to be exact. Harvey couldn't wait anymore and despite Jim's better judgement they were trudging toward the building anyway.

"They told you to ask for Tom?" Jim glanced around, looking for a door.

"Yeah," Harvey muttered, finding a garage door and struggling to hoist it up. Jim rushed over to help. "Shit neighborhood; they should know to keep their crap locked up," Harvey joked. He half expected a welcome party of goons with guns, but there wasn't a single body in the place. Empty, cold, and dark. " _Real_ fuckin' great."

They checked every corner of the place before Jim suggested, "You said you threatened him. Maybe he ran off?"

Harvey shook his head. "Unlikely."

A ringing echoed through the place, startling them both. They followed the sound to find a cell phone on a table. Exchanging a look with Jim, Harvey answered it.

"Bullock, I knew you'd play along." It was Tom's voice on the other line; Harvey would know it anywhere. That accent and the dramatic flair.

"Tom, where the Hell are you?"

"Ah. See, there. That temper of yours is exactly why I've booked," he chuckled. "When my man came back today with blood-caked gums, I knew you were still holding a grudge."

" _A grudge_? You got my girl killed."

"Did I?" Tom asked and Harvey about blew a gasket. "To save my skin, I thought we'd talk this way first, considering you're probably armed and dangerous at the moment, am I right?" Harvey didn't correct him. "See, I've got this useful information for you so blowing my brains out right now probably isn't in your best interest."

"What the Hell are you talking about?"

"You still staying in that shitty apartment?"

"No."

"Are you lying to me, detective?"

"No," Harvey insisted.

"Moved on then. Smart man," Tom said. "Okay, fine. Tuesday. Lunch. Say…one o'clock. Trina's Diner on East 6th. No guns."

"Why the Hell would I follow another one of your orders? Huh? You're too cowardly to show your damn face tonight."

"Oh, I'll be there now that I've got your interest piqued."

"You don't."

"Bullock, please…it's about Napier."

The line went dead.


	6. Chapter 6

"Just wake him up."

"No…it isn't important."

"First day back as Captain, he shouldn't be sleeping on the job anyway."

Harvey finally pushed his index finger against the brim of his hat, looking up at the two standing in his doorway. So he'd been dozing. After last night, he hadn't gotten much sleep. He looked like shit, he was sure.

"What?" he snapped. Lucius ducked out but Alexis raised an eyebrow at him.

"I was stepping out for lunch and wanted to see if our returning Captain wanted anything."

Harvey yawned. "Nah, thanks." He closed his eyes, expecting her to leave. When he didn't hear heel clicks, he opened one eye then the other.

" _You're_ turning down food?" she crossed her arms over her chest. "Are you okay?"

"M'fine," he muttered, taking his hat off and setting it on his desk. He ran a hand down his face, rest his elbows on the desk, and sighed. He figured she'd push – they always do – but she left it alone.

"Not even a churro?"

The Captain paused, leveled his eyes at her, let himself smile. "And _this_ is the reason I haven't fired you."

Her eyes went wide, mouth dropping open. "What? _Fire me?"_

"You're wasting your break standin' here bullshitting with me. Clock's tickin'. Think I won't write you up for taking an extended break?" She gave him a defiant look before turning to leave. Harvey chuckled, shaking his head then putting his feet up on the desk and raising his eyes to the ceiling.

Churros sounded good.

He hadn't paid attention to the clock mostly because Jim stepped in the office to fill him in on a case. Mid-conversation, a bag was dropped on his desk. Glancing over, he saw Alexis – some defiance in her eyes still.

"Got you two. And a coffee to wake your ass up. Still thinking of firing me?" There was humor behind her gaze, but her aggressive tone made Harvey pause a moment. He liked that fire. She strutted out of his office, her food in hand, gaze returning to him as she passed his floor-to-ceiling windows.

"Damn," Harvey whistled. Jim raised his eyebrows, shooting Harvey a look. "What?" he snatched his coffee and churros, digging in the bag like nothing happened.

* * *

Tuesday came quick and Harvey found himself staring at that clock until it was time for him to leave for "break" where he would meet up with Tom. Upon closing his office door, he gave a sidelong glance to Jim who looked at him knowingly.

"You sure you don't want me there?"

Harvey shook his head. "I don't come back in an hour, come lookin'."

They'd been over this: if Tom or his goons saw Jim was nearby, this meeting wouldn't happen. And Harvey needed answers.

As he made his way to the door he spotted Lexi weaving her way between desks and back to that office. A pang of guilt hit him. Had she really believed he was considering firing her? He hadn't spoken to her since – which was what he'd originally wanted – but a part of him didn't want her hating him either. He hadn't even gone in the file room lately to see what a mess it was. Plenty of officers had mentioned what a disaster the files were before she started so he was sure she had her work cut out for her.

Shaking off the thoughts, he went to his car.

He'd scoped out Trina's Diner before, figuring it was in a shady part of town. To his surprise, the place looked pristine. Little family-owned place. Tom had said no guns so Harvey walked in with brass knuckles on both hands and a knife in the pocket of his jacket.

Upon entering Trina's Diner, Harvey saw the uneasy gazes of the staff. Flashing his badge discretely, he watched the relief flood their features. The owner motioned toward a corner booth where Tom sat sipping a glass of water. Harvey made his way over, expecting a scuffle, not surprised that no one had brought any food over to him. Tom looked haggard and the scars on his face looked more menacing when he wasn't in his element.

Grabbing the collar of his coat, Harvey let the sunlight gleam against his brass knuckles.

"No need for that, Bullock," Tom said. Harvey let go, shoving him back against the booth to make a point before plopping in the seat opposite him. "Guess I should've been clearer about non-violence, hm?"

"I've got a desk full of work, I'm running on little sleep, and my patience for your shit ran out a year ago. Cut to it."

Tom clicked his tongue. "Touchy. But fine," he hummed. "Napier's gone."

Harvey just about flipped the table. "I _know_ that, jackass, he fled the scene after killing my girl."

"Right. But who'd he flee with? Surely you knew it was me. Up until about a month ago, the two of us were out of town on business. Recently, he figured it was time to come back so we kept our heads down; stayed out of it because we knew we had a target on our back. Heard you were Captain."

"Yeah. Captain. And I'm about to arrest your ass for aiding, abetting, and accessory."

Tom simply blinked at him. "Anyway, Jack started going off. Got phone calls. Real shifty-like. Thought he was getting his dick wet, that Jack Napier. Two weeks ago someone came knocking. He shushes him off, away from me and tells him ' _not here_.' Now I know something's up and I'm looking out for my own ass."

"Pity," Harvey stood but Tom pulled him by the arm.

"I followed him the other night. Far out. By some docks. He's meeting with a bald man and Fish Mooney."

Harvey wanted to vomit. "You're sure about this?"

"Look, past in the past 'n all that. I don't trust Jack. Fucker's been stealing money from me."

"To be expected when your right hand man's a scumbag."

Tom nodded, holding up his hand. "I know I'm not your favorite person by any means, but we both have a common enemy at this point."

Harvey's temper flared once again. "You know, I've heard all this before. I trusted you. I let you lead Lizzy wherever just so we could take out Napier and you got her killed."

"Harleen," Tom corrected. "May as well call her by the right name. Seeing as you'll be using it soon."

Harvey paled, blood rushing to his ears. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on. You're gonna tell me that with all the information I just gave you, you can't sort this through? Rumors are true, aren't they?" at Tom's statement, Harvey didn't respond. "Fish Mooney has one Hugo Strange in her possession –yes? And I'd know her anywhere. And she was _long_ dead. Just like your little Harleen." Tom paused and Harvey's fist clenched. "What would the fucked up mind of Jack Napier go along with? With all these monsters running the streets and the dead rising once again."

Harvey stood. "That's enough. We're done here."

"I don't think we are. You'll come looking for me, I know it. And I'll be ready."

"You listen to me, you slimy little prick: we're done. So either you go quietly into these cuffs or I force you into the back of my car. What'll it be?"

Tom stood now as well, eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't."

"Oh, really? Why wouldn't I?"

"Because if Jack comes back and sees me gone, he'll assume where I've gone off to. And then you put your officers at risk. He's been a bit unstable now that he's lost his dear Harley."

Harvey bit the inside of his cheek but reached and pulled out his handcuffs anyway. In an instant, Tom swung at the Captain and started running. Harvey took off after him, shoving him to the ground and making him hit the nearest table. He could feel the throbbing of his cheekbone, knowing a bruise was forming. The taste of blood filled his mouth and he could feel a sting from where Tom's ring cut him. But Tom was on the ground beneath him and Harvey was pulling at his arms in an attempt to get the cuffs on him.

This time he succeeded.

"Sorry for the mess, folks," Harvey apologized to the staff before hoisting Tom up and dragging him out the door to the car.

"You're making a huge mistake, Bullock," Tom said from the backseat as they drove back to GCPD.

Harvey didn't even give him the pleasure of conversing with him. His mind was racing at the new knowledge he acquired. _Harleen_ …?

"Eventful break, Harvey?" Jim jogged over as soon as he saw Harvey walk in the door.

Alexis was at Alvarez's desk, handing over a file when she made eye contact with him. She looked shocked at his appearance and he assumed that bruise looked mighty nice on his cheek.

"Mind booking him?" Harvey pushed Tom over to Jim who gladly followed orders. He looked back at Alvarez's desk but Alexis was gone.

"What's going on, Bullock?" Jim came back to him after locking Tom up.

"We'll talk in my office," Harvey suggested. The two of them went off, Harvey closing the door back behind them. "Apparently Napier's gone rogue; stealing from Tom, going off to the docks."

"The _docks_?"

"Tom told me he followed him. Said he met with 'a bald man' and Fish."

Jim's eyes darkened. "Hugo Strange."

"Exactly. Tom alluded to…to Harleen."

Jim paused, lowered his gaze, glancing back up. "You think they have her?"

"I dunno, man. He got Fish, right? It's _possible_."

"Or it's a ploy to get you close," Jim offered.

Harvey paused, realizing he hadn't even thought of that. His mind had been so caught up on them doing something despicable to her – to them piecing her back together like Frankenstein's monster and letting her wreak havoc.

"We buried her, Jim." Harvey leaned on his desk, holding his head. "Didn't even use her real name – went with 'Elizabeth' because that's what everyone here knew her as. You think they dug her back up?"

"You would've noticed upturned dirt. Were you by the grave often?" Jim asked honestly.

Harvey's mind traced back to the solid month where he went almost daily. After that he was hitting the bottle so much he couldn't bring himself to go anymore. "No."

Jim sighed. "It's possible. She _did_ work at Arkham. Strange was her boss, right?"

Harvey's head snapped up. "You don't think…"

Jim shrugged. "She quit, didn't she? Pretended like she didn't have a dual relationship with Jack Napier; she was counseling her ex-boyfriend. He escaped, vanished with her, she's in danger, then she quits Arkham altogether. It's _possible_ that Strange is holding a grudge. And you know Jack would be all over the idea of messing with you if Strange found a way to bring her back – which he's apparently able to: hence Fish and all the monsters."

Harvey groaned, a headache sprouting up. "This can't be happening."

"Should probably get her file out of there, just in case." Jim was right. In the wrong hands, that file could be devastating. Who knew if Jack paid anyone off in the GCPD. "You think arresting Tom was the best idea at this point?"

"What, you don't?" Harvey shot back. Jim just blinked. "He assisted Jack in the killing of a woman. He fled with Jack, found him cover, is currently hiding him out."

"Sure did a number on _you_ today too," Jim acknowledged. "Look, I'm just saying there's ways we could use him in this."

"You playin' bad cop today?" Harvey asked. Jim gave a sheepish grin. "Alright. I'll go get that file. Meet you in Interrogation."

So for the first time in quite a while, Harvey made his way down the hallway toward the file room. The door was closed so he knocked before opening. Stepping in, his gaze flashed over the stacks. Alexis was wearing a tank top, standing by her desk. She flipped through piled folders and hadn't even known that Harvey was there. He cleared his throat, making her jump.

"Captain!" she reached over to her chair, grabbing her blouse and shoving her arms into the sleeves. "I'm sorry, it gets warm in here and…" She once again took in his appearance. "Someone got you good."

Harvey hated to admit it, but the tension he was feeling lessened at her comment. The quiet back room made him feel miles away from his troubles. It felt like he could hide back here and ignore every responsibility.

"I like what you've done with the place. Screams: organization." He spread his hands apart then dropped them to his sides.

The place was a damn mess and he was surprised that she'd even found anything. "I'm in the middle of it. There were files piled everywhere and even the ones in the cabinets weren't in order." She shrugged. "Job security, so long as my _Captain_ doesn't fire me."

"Listen, about that…" he scratched the back of his neck.

She smiled softly. "No, I get it: it's your humor. No hurt feelings."

Harvey straightened. "Well, good." There was an awkward silence.

"You just come all the way over here to chat or…?"

"No! No, I, uh…can you grab me the file for Harleen Quinzel?" saying her birth name aloud sounded foreign to him. Having called her Elizabeth for months before she admitted the truth to him really messed him up. Even after he knew she still wanted him to call her Liz, wanted to forget that part of herself – the part that was with Jack Napier for years, letting him hide under some guise that he was a decent human being. He understood why she wanted an out. He understood why she'd tried to rid the world of Jack Napier so no one else was hurt by him. But she'd failed – they'd failed – and here Jack was back to terrorize the city.

Like they needed another lunatic.

"Oh! I just came across that one," Alexis' voice broke through his thoughts and he watched her squeeze passed him. "Did you need ice for the bruise or anything?" she asked as she opened a drawer.

"No. I'll…I'll be alright."

Her fingers flipped through files expertly. As she grabbed one, Harvey found himself holding his breath. She handed it over, shoving the drawer closed. "Alright, tough guy."

With that file back in his hands, Harvey sighed deeply. "Thank you."

She sent him a worried look, but nodded anyway. "Need anything else, just let me know."

Nodding, Harvey left the room, closing the door behind him. He had to go meet Jim in the interrogation room, but he felt anxiety bubbling in his chest. The winds had changed; he could feel like he was on the cusp of something ultimately _bad_ and the sensation of helplessness filled him entirely.


	7. Chapter 7

Heavy door slamming behind him, Harvey strode into the interrogation room. Jim stood against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. Tom was at the table, hands cuffed in his lap. The bored look on his face said it all.

"Ah, so nice of you to join us, Captain," Tom drawled. "Come to change your mind?"

Without a word, Harvey crossed the room and hoisted Tom up by the collar.

"Harvey…" Jim warned from behind him.

Having an inner debate, Harvey finally dropped him back in his seat. Tom lifted his cuffed hands to brush off his jacket then lazily glance up at them.

"What more do you know?" Harvey questioned. "It's been a damn _year_ since you killed her and ran off with Napier."

"What do I know? You mean his quirks? Bad habits?" Tom clicked his tongue. "C'mon, Bullock, you're gonna have to be more specific. I know _a lot_."

"Then you know where he is right now."

Tom glanced between Jim and Harvey. "My best guess would be the docks. And you _better_ hope that he isn't back yet. As I said before, Bullock, one word that I'm here – under your watch – and he'll burn this whole place down."

Harvey turned to Jim. "Go send out a squad to the docks."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," came Tom's voice. Harvey stilled. "I'm tellin' ya: came up with the plan all on my own. It's foolproof. You just need to play nice."

"Your plan? Your plan was for me to be sitting in waiting, expecting phone calls from you with information. I don't think so. Do you _know_ the kinda power I have now as Captain? Hm? I could wipe your whole crew of goons out within the hour. _Try me._ "

There was a light knock on the door and Jim went to open it. Upon hearing Alexis' voice as she spoke with Jim, Harvey turned his back on Tom.

"Harvey," Jim nodded him over.

"What's goin' on?" he walked over, hands on his hips, mind racing to the file she'd given him minutes before.

"The place is a mess and as I was digging through that stack I found this," she handed him a document that must have been misplaced from Harleen's file. "I saw the name and…I'm sorry for interrupting but I figured you needed it."

Jim glanced at the paper too, all three of them in the doorway. Harvey's mind raced while his eyes squinted to read the writing on the paper. _Struggle_ and _fatal_ and _knife wounds._ He knew he probably looked hollow but his ears were ringing and if he blinked too long he could _see her._ The pool of blood, the glazed look in her eyes, the pale flesh as they zipped that body bag.

Jim pat him on the shoulder, calling him out of the memory. When he looked up he saw the concern on Alexis' face. Nodding slowly he thanked her.

She didn't reply, just held his gaze.

The moment was broken when Jim hit the floor. Harvey spun on his heels, reaching for his gun but Tom was there, hands grabbing Alexis and hoisting his arms over her head, pulling the cuffs tightly against her neck.

"Ah, ah," Tom tutted. Jim groaned from on the ground, his forehead gushing blood. "Drop your gun." Harvey should have shot – he knew – but Tom had information and he couldn't let that die with him. If he was going to strangle Alexis, she wouldn't die that quick but his mind was flashing back to Harleen bleeding out and he couldn't shoot. Dropping the gun, he cussed. "Now, my dear," Tom hummed in Alexis' ear, bending down with her to pick up the gun. Raising it to her temple he slid the cuffs away from her neck. "You wouldn't happen to have a key, now, would you?"

"Tom-"

"Shhh…the keys…" he looked pointedly at Harvey who took one step toward them. Tom shot the wall over his shoulder and they all jumped. "Not one more step, Harvey." He held out his hand, motioning for the keys. Harvey tossed them to him. He spun Alexis to face him, pulling her body toward him. "If you would…" he handed her the keys, smirking over her shoulder at Harvey as she unlocked the cuffs and tossed them to the floor. "Now, Harvey, here's a lesson for you," Tom began walking toward the door, away from Jim as he slowly stood up. "It's important that you take me seriously."

Without another word Tom booked it out of the room, grip tight on Alexis' arm, gun pressed to her temple until he made it out the door to the parking lot.

"Fuck…" Harvey yelled, jogging after them with Jim.

Tom managed to make it to the street with Alexis, turning the gun on a guy getting into his car. Easily, he snagged the keys and shoved her into the passenger seat. He took off instantly while she gave a failed attempt to open the door back up.

"Harvey, get a few units after them," Jim instructed as they jogged to his car and Harvey called it in.

* * *

Alexis never expected to find herself in captivity of a criminal, let alone working in a police department. Hadn't she learned years ago what this line of work got you into? Yet she'd convinced herself that it would be different. Working in the file room would be like a cubicle job – in and out – same old mundane day. With a degree in library science she expected that boring and mundane would be her experience for the rest of her life. But she'd had enough and took the job offer at the music shop and ran like Hell from that library gig. Teaching music lessons, chatting about records, recommending music – she loved it. If not for the changes in every day, for the people she encountered. Music just brought people together; people she never expected to meet. And maybe she should've stayed; should've ignored her gut instinct, forgotten about the warnings her father used to give her and keep the job merely because she liked it. Well, she'd liked it _before_ all the weird shit started happening.

Now here she was: expecting to be the most invisible staff member at the GCPD, yet in the car a criminal stole.

The gun was no longer aimed at her. It sat in his lap. She eyed it momentarily.

"Feel free to come grab it, luv," he said but there was no malice in his voice.

Alexis stared at him as he drove; the scars on the sides of his face looked menacing in this light. She was reminded of Harvey's questions the first night they met; how strained his voice was when he asked about the scars of the guy at the music shop. Scars and black hair, he'd said. This couldn't be coincidence.

"I've seen my fair share of criminals in my life…you don't mean to hurt me, do you?"

The man glanced at her then back to the road. "My, you're a smart one." She released a breath she hadn't known she was holding. "Don't get too comfy. That does _not_ mean that I won't." Silence filled the air. "This all depends on Bullock." He glanced at her again at the next light. By then she was looking out the window but his gaze made her feel transparent. "You a cop?"

"God, no."

He hummed, considering this. "That a phone on the floor mat?" he nodded toward her legs. Alexis nodded, grabbing it for him then wordlessly handing it to him. He punched in some numbers before pressing the phone to his ear. "Yeah, hi. How's it…-no…I've uh…been tied up all day." Another glance her way. "Ran into an old squeeze." Alexis scoffed. "Right, dearie?...Ah, she's shy. Nah, don't bother. S'fine." He hung up and pulled onto a side street, parking the car. "Out. We walk."

"Where are we going?"

Tom just gave her a look.

* * *

Jim drove Harvey around for over an hour looking for them. Alvarez had managed to find the car Tom stole but they weren't inside – he'd ditched it at the corner of West 20th and Cardinal.

Harvey called Alexis from Jim's phone, realizing he needed to put her number in his. It rang twice before Tom answered.

"What's the matter? Worried?"

"Tom, leave her out of this," Harvey insisted. "This is between you and me. No one else needs to get hurt."

"Oh, I don't think you understand me, Captain. I _don't_ take orders from you."

Harvey huffed, slamming the door to Jim's car as they made their way back to the precinct empty-handed. It killed him that it was dusk and they hadn't managed to find her.

"Is she still alive?" Harvey dared to ask the question.

"What do you think the answer to that question is?"

Harvey's stomach knotted. "No."

All he got in response was a laugh and then the phone clicked in his ear.

Jim glanced at the older man, seeing his shoulders hanging in defeat. "Harvey…"

"I let it get to me again, Jim. I let it distract me and that's when Tom struck. This is on me – again – and if there's a chance she's still alive…I've gotta try."

Jim nodded sternly. "Right there with ya, partner. But maybe go get some rest. I'll go check out some of Tom's old hangouts – like that bar – and you go grab maybe an hour or two."

Harvey nodded with a grunt, knowing that was best. He had so much faith in Jim –if anyone could find her, it was him.

"An _hour_ and I'm back on it, alright?" He made his way back to his own car.

"Did you not hear that ' _or two_ ' part?" Jim called.

"If you find anything, call me," Harvey instructed before shutting the door and starting the engine.

Fifteen minutes later he was shuffling with the keys as he stepped toward his apartment door. The lock was busted. Quickly he reached for his gun only to be reminded that it wasn't there – Tom had it. Gulping, Harvey pushed the door open.

The lights were on and instantly he heard the click of a gun cocking. Tom sat in the chair facing him, Alexis on the couch. The gun was lazily pointing toward her and she suddenly seemed on edge – as if she hadn't been before. Tom drank slowly from a glass.

"Helped myself to your scotch," came the accented voice. "Took you long enough." Another sip. "Come in. Sit down. Make yourself at home." He motioned with the gun.

Harvey closed the door, moving to the couch.

"You okay?" he asked Alexis, honestly relieved to see that she was alive. He'd been so convinced she wasn't.

"I'm fine."

Or was this all part of Tom's plan: kill her in front of Harvey? Make him re-live his trauma.

"Oh, Harvey, I'm offended. What are you making me out to be?" he finished the scotch. "A monster? Don't have enough a' those running around?"

He gave a deep sigh, shaking his head. "If you're so _worried_ about Jack finding you out, why are you not back yet?"

"To prove a point," Tom said. Harvey didn't speak as he fished in his pocket and revealed a cell phone. "Bloke left it in his car."

"The car you stole?"

Tom waved him off. "Little Lexi, how many calls have I gotten tonight?"

Alexis spoke without hesitation. "Six."

"Six," he repeated, staring into Harvey's eyes. "Which is why we have to play my way."

"Napier's that into you?" Harvey joked.

"Napier is that cautious. Anything that doesn't go according to plan he gets shifty and starts questioning."

"So what'd you tell him tonight?"

"Told him I ran into an old squeeze," he looked pointedly at Alexis. "Nothing that's gonna send him our way."

"Oh, because you suddenly have our best interests at heart," Harvey finally snapped. "You're out here putting _my people_ in danger, using _my_ manpower, breaking into _my apartment_? I don't think you know who's in control here."

"What, _you_?" Tom spat back. "You _acting_ Captain, sittin' here talkin' big without a gun."

"You don't get to do this – not again," Harvey stood, stepping in front of Alexis, gun now pointed at his belly which reminded him all too much of the last bullet he took. "I'll say it again: it's between _us._ "

Tom stood as well and took two steps forward. Alexis held her breath. "There. He. _Is_ ," he growled, taking the bullets out of the gun and setting them on the coffee table, handing the gun back to Harvey. "I knew that fire was in there still." Harvey's jaw clenched and unclenched. "I never wanted to hurt her, mate," Tom spoke pointedly. "Take that as you will." Harvey didn't have words so Tom began walking toward the door. "I'll be in touch."

When the door slammed behind him, Harvey grabbed the bullets and began loading them back in the gun then put the safety on. Alexis didn't speak and neither did he at first. He wanted to process everything. But then his mind travelled to the knowledge that this was the first time he'd been alone with a woman in this apartment.

"How'd he find the place?" he found himself asking.

"Picked up the phone and called someone. One of his 'connections' he said," Alexis spoke quietly. "It's nice here, Harvey. Cozy."

And suddenly he was on the defensive. He didn't want her in there. If he'd had it his way, she never would've seen his place. _Nice_? She'd said it was _nice_? Though, maybe it was a better go at it than the last apartment had been. Clearing out Lizzy Harleen's old place after the incident left him with a hole so deep he needed to fill it somehow. Some of her favorite décor was lying about the apartment and he found them more of a hindrance to his healing than a crutch like he'd assumed they would be. But to the passerby, maybe it would be seen as nice. He looked at it and saw despair.

"You need to get home?" he slipped the gun in its holster and finally turned to her.

She sat still, glancing up at him. "My purse is still at work, but I have a spare key at the house. Are we gonna talk about what happened tonight?"

Harvey sighed. "I'm leaning toward 'no.'" He went to the door with his keys in his hand. The lock was destroyed but thankfully he didn't have anything he deemed worthy of being stolen. He'd replace the lock in the morning. "Come on, let me take you home."

He wasn't surprised when she huffed passed him, out the door, and down the stairs. Hell, he'd be pretty pissed off too. It just wasn't something she needed to get involved in. She was safer in the dark.

Walking her to the car he paused before starting it, as if he was going to spill it to her. Deciding against it, he asked her to remind him of her street and they took off.

"Don't you think I have a right to know, Harvey?"

"It's safer if you didn't," he insisted. "Tom didn't hurt you, did he?"

"No. He was actually kind of a gentleman, if you'll believe that."

Harvey glanced at her. " _Tom_? You serious?"

"Mhm," she nodded. "Didn't have that gun aimed at me until you walked in the door."

"So, what, you two just sat in my living room and chatted over a glass of whiskey?"

"I didn't want any so he drank. But, kinda, yeah."

That did sound like Tom: suave, nice when he was on your side. "What'd you talk about?"

Alexis narrowed her eyes at him. "Harvey, this seems kinda one-sided, doesn't it?" she paused but continued. "He asked about my degree. We talked music and bar scenes in Gotham. Nothing big."

Harvey nodded even though it was dark and she wasn't looking at him. The rest of the drive was silent and he used this time to run through all he knew about the last 12 hours. Jack Napier was allegedly back in town. He and Tom were no longer simpatico. Tom wanted to team up and uncover _why_ Jack had been sneaking off lately, but on his own terms. And Harleen… _Lizzy_ may be back again. But this was all word-of-mouth from Tom no less. He'd believe it when he saw it. _If_ he saw it.

They'd pulled up to her house and Harvey put the car in park. Both of them sat there momentarily, only the soft music playing from the radio.

Alexis had been waiting for him to open up. Jim told her he wasn't an open book. It was clear that he wasn't spilling anything tonight. Trying to reign in her annoyance, she unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she punctuated the sentence with the slam of the door and Harvey watched her walk to the side of the house, open up the milk chute, and pull back the metal on the inside. The key now between her fingers, she closed the milk chute and unlocked her door without looking back.


	8. Chapter 8

A few days passed with no word from Tom which was infuriating to Harvey. With Jim chasing down Lee and Mario after their wedding, Harvey was up to his ears in stress and pressure. Suddenly his worries were put on the backburner as he tried to keep up with Jim and dodge issues with Falcone.

"You slept last night, right?" Jim's voice hit Harvey's ears before he even noticed he'd entered the office.

Looking up and pulling his glasses off, Harvey leaned back in his chair. "Few hours. Why?"

"Lucius has a weird one for us if you're interested," Jim replied. "Just want ya sharp."

Harvey paused, running a hand down his face. "You sure you're up for this? You can take a few days off."

Finding Jim at Mario's funeral wasn't surprising to him whatsoever. It would be important to keep his wits about him on a case a few days after shooting and killing his ex-fiancée's husband. What a mess Jim got himself into once again.

"I've had a few days. I'll be fine," he assured him. "And what about things on your end? Hear from Tom yet?"

Harvey huffed out a 'no' before standing from his desk. "Something big's goin' on though, I can tell you that much."

"Stopped in to check up on Lexi this morning, see if she's jittery after being taken by him. Did you know her dad was a cop?"

Harvey rounded his desk, following Jim to the lab. "No. Haven't talked to her much. Chick's pretty pissed at me."

Jim shot him a look. "You're kidding. Harvey, don't tell me you slept with her."

"What? No. No, I just…she asked about Napier and-"

"And you didn't tell her."

Rolling his eyes, Harvey sighed. "It just isn't the right time to do so."

"You think of getting his file before she reads it?" Jim asked. Harvey paused.

"Shit."

A frown crossed Jim's face. "I grabbed it the other night when Tom took her to your apartment. It's in my desk."

"Jesus. Thanks, partner."

"You _owe her_ an explanation."

Harvey bit the inside of his cheek. "We'll see."

Lucius was right –the case _was_ pretty juicy. Leave it to Gotham to find people walking around days after being pronounced dead; ten thousand volts in their noggin. It made Harvey sick.

Leaving the lab, Harvey made eye contact with Alexis who was just closing the door to the file room, purse on her shoulder, likely going out for lunch. She took a few steps toward him, grabbed him by the wrist, and pulled him into the breakroom. Pressing him against the wall, Alexis stood directly in front of him.

"The file on Jack Napier isn't in there," she spoke pointedly.

"Looking to do some reading?" he asked, unable to help how flustered he got by her sudden curtness. He tried to walk away but she pressed her hand against his chest.

"Harvey, there are corpses that are up and leaving the morgue, bodies getting juiced by ten thousand volts and I can't help but wonder if these things are connected to this Jack Napier guy."

"I can't talk about it right now, alright? Jim and I are off to the morgue and I'm kinda busy at the moment."

She stared at him, eyes suddenly losing that spark. He felt her hand slide from his chest, lower, to his belly then pause there. A sharp intake of breath and he was staring at her lips. The moment hadn't meant to be intimate, but Harvey hadn't been _touched_ like that in God knew how long. Alexis was gone just as fast as she dragged him in.

* * *

Alone in the breakroom now, Harvey straightened his tie and breathed deeply. " _Jesus_ …"

Alexis' break wasn't nearly as relaxing as she'd hoped it would be. Her mind kept racing to those bodies and this Jack guy. Jim wasn't any help either when she'd tried to pick his brain. Maybe she was getting too involved in this whole thing, but when people kept things from her she tended to dig.

Entering the precinct, Alexis found herself glancing toward Harvey's office but he wasn't there.

"You back from break?" Alvarez asked as she passed. She nodded. "Could you find me the file on Rhea Ingersol?"

"Sure thing," she responded then made her way to the file room.

As she went toward the desk to set her purse down, she started digging through the bag for her phone. Maybe she'd left it in the car… Cussing under her breath she glanced up and a small scream left her at the sight of Tom sitting on her desk. His eyebrows were raised and he looked a bit humored at the situation.

"What are you doing here?"

"Best believe my intention was not to frighten you, dearie," he rose from her desk. "Quite the mess in 'ere, innit?"

"You aren't supposed to be in here," she said. " _How'd_ you get in here?"

He shrugged. "Slipped in the staff entrance 'fore the door closed. Some of these officers have _very bad_ smoking habits."

Alexis simply stared in wonderment. "If Harvey finds out you're here…"

"S'why I didn't come in the front, eh?"

"What do you want, Tom?" she set her bag down on the desk then turned to him as he wandered.

There was a long pause while Tom scratched at his goatee. "Honest?" he suddenly asked, spinning on his heels toward her. She nodded, eyebrows raised. "I can't stop thinking about you, Lexi." He laughed, shaking his head once. "Sounds cheeky but…"

She crossed her arms over her chest. "You kidnapped me."

"Yes, I _know_ that an' as I've said, I'm _awfully_ sorry." He was mere steps away from her and she suddenly felt so small. "We had fun, you and I." Another pause as he stepped forward. "One date." Alexis pursed her lips, squinting her eyes at him but there was humor in her gaze. She wasn't threatened by him. There was never a threatening tone to him when it was just the two of them. "One," he repeated.

"Tom…"

He backed up then, hands raised. "Okay, I get it: grand gesture. Sweep you off your feet."

She rolled her eyes, almost laughing at his antics. "Don't-"

"-No, no. I insist," he gave a little bow before opening up the door and leaving to God-knew-where.

Alexis ran a hand through her hair, sighing, soft smile on her face. This she hadn't expected. And then it occurred to her: Tom knew Jack. They worked together. Maybe it was a risky idea, but _one date_ couldn't hurt. From what he'd told her that night, Jack wasn't someone he wanted to be associated with anymore and that was why he needed Harvey's help. It didn't all make sense to her, but it was a start. And if Harvey wasn't going to give her answers, well, maybe Tom would.

* * *

Six-thirty the next morning, Harvey made his way to the breakroom to make himself another cup of coffee. Something stopped him dead. Rose petals on the floor leading to the open door of the file room. Coffee forgotten momentarily, he waltzed in and glanced around the room. Alexis stood at her desk, back to him, reading something.

"Secret admirer?" he voiced which made her gasp, startled.

"Harvey," she turned to him, hiding something behind her back.

"Mind filling me in on what's goin' on?"

"Nothing."

Harvey glanced around at the mess of rose petals on the floor, the big bouquet on the desk behind her. He nodded. "Yeah, right. Like this is nothing."

"I'll clean it up; don't worry."

"M'not worried," he insisted. "Just curious. As Captain I think I have a right to know who's making a mess of the file room." He took a few more steps toward her. She said nothing. "You gonna show me what's behind your back or am I gonna have to take it by force?" The defiance in her eyes returned but she reluctantly handed over the note. He didn't step away from her and she didn't move either. "You've gotta be shitting me." Eyes snapped back to her. "This is a joke, right?"

"Harvey…"

Slamming the note down on her desk, he got dangerously close to her. "Tom is a no good rot of a human being and I think you should know that before you get messed up in this whole thing."

"What whole thing, Bullock?" she spoke lowly. He silenced. "That's what I thought." She side-stepped him. "We're meeting for lunch. No harm in that." He heard her heel clicks retreating as she left the room.

This could not be happening. Harvey pocketed the note from Tom and stormed out of the room, back to his office.

The slam of the door made Jim look up. Watching through the window as Harvey ran his hands through his hair then pressed his palms against his eyes, he considered staying out of it. Tentatively, he knocked on the door, letting himself in Harvey's office.

"Stupid woman," he muttered, pacing. "Stupid, stupid woman."

"Harvey…" Jim started. "What happened?"

Stopping momentarily, he dug out the note from his pocket and shoved it into his partner's hand, rounding the desk then throwing himself in his chair. Grabbing his flask, he unscrewed the top and downed a few gulps. Jim paused, glancing up at Harvey in search of some kind of answers but Harvey's eyes were dull, gaze set on the floor.

"Proyta's is a pretty decent place in Burnley, isn't it?" Harvey recalled reading the location of their little date on the note. "Leave it to Tom to sway her by shelling out some coin for a date."

Jim set the note down on Harvey's desk. "You're taking this pretty hard, Harvey…"

"Yeah. Because she's going on a date with a damn criminal! Waltzing right in there, knowing full-well what he is."

"Harv…"

"She probably wants to be wined and dined. And he's gonna lay it on _real_ thick 'cause that's Tom for ya. The accent and those damn 'pity-me' scars."

"Harvey!" Jim raised his voice, silencing the captain. "Did you ever think that maybe she's doing this to get answers from him?" Still silence. "If you'd just _tell her_ then she'd probably leave it alone."

"Right, Jim. Sure. That's all this is: she wants to go on a date with some Scotsman just to get answers about some case she wasn't involved in."

"With Tom holding her hostage, she suddenly _is_ involved, Harvey, and you being hush-hush about the whole thing doesn't settle her questions." The two paused for a few moments.

"I can't tell her," Harvey finally spoke, voice dull and despairing. "I can't talk about it at length, okay?"

Jim pursed his lips, nodding stiffly. "I know."

Huffing up from his desk, he pocketed his flask and started toward the door. "Gotta be back from this case before noon." Jim gave him a look. "I'm following them."

* * *

Alexis must have misplaced the note in her rush to clean up the file room. Those rose petals were sweet but such a pain in the ass to pick up. Thankfully she'd read it a few times and knew that Tom had planned to be at Proyta's at noon; he'd have a seat waiting just in case she decided to show.

And since she was being kept in the dark, she was sure as shit going to show.

On her way out of the precinct she half expected to find Harvey trying to stop her. Glancing around, she realized the Captain wasn't there so she made her way to the car and drove off to meet Tom.

She found him sitting at a table off in the corner, wine glasses waiting for the two of them, a bottle being chilled. He looked pleased to see her.

"I'm so underdressed," she hissed, sneaking into her seat before he could get up and greet her.

"You look just fine," he insisted, grabbing the bottle of wine and pouring.

"Not too much; I've gotta get back to work after lunch."

"Oh, Harvey would forgive you I'm sure," he smirked. "I ordered for us already; just assumed you'd be here."

"Tom…"

He held up his hand, "Please, 'Tommy'."

She nodded. "Why did you think I'd be here?"

"As much as I'd like to wish it was my charm that brought you, I think there's a bit of curiosity that pulled you in today."

Lexi sipped her wine, looking sheepish. "That obvious, huh?"

He shook his head. "I just know you probably have questions."

"And are you willing to answer them?"

"Finish that glass of wine and we'll talk." Her next two gulps were hefty, leaving just a small mouthful. She set it down, grabbed some bread, and held eye contact with him before taking the last gulp. "My, you're serious."

"I don't like being left in the dark."

"What would you like to know?" he began pouring her second glass.

Alexis paused, considering this. What _had_ she wanted to know? Suddenly she was nervous. What was she getting herself into?

"I'm just…" she sighed. "I'm really confused."

Tom nodded, humming. "Where can I fill you in?"

She met eyes with him, a serious look on her face. "I understand that you took me to prove a point to Harvey; that he needed to take you seriously - to listen to you. Or…something like that."

"Something like that…" Tom repeated, taking a sip of wine. Lexi looked confused. "I saw an opportunity and I jumped on it. You were merely a distraction. Get me out of the cuffs and then I realized that you were useful. A tool. Harvey needed to learn to play by my rules and not his."

"And how does Jack fit into all this?"

"Shouldn't you ask Harvey yourself?"

"I have."

"And…?"

"If I had those answers, do you think I'd be coming to you with questions?" Alexis sighed as their food came. "It's just infuriating that Harvey won't tell me what happened."

"Perhaps he's still grappling with it himself."

Alexis felt like the room stilled. She hadn't considered that. "Was this a personal matter?"

Tom nodded slowly, silently. Alexis lowered her eyes as he spoke. "Wounded, that one. Completely devastated him."

The food tasted great but Alexis didn't feel like eating. She suddenly felt so rude. Like she'd made the mistake of upsetting Harvey even more about this situation; digging into something that she shouldn't have been concerned about. She should have just considered Tom as a criminal with weird motives and left it at that. Yet with all this talk of Jack Napier and this _Harleen Quinzel_ she felt like she had to dig.

"I'm sorry," she said to Tom after the two of them finished their meal in silence. "I really shouldn't have bothered you. This is business between you and Harvey and I have no right intruding." She grabbed her purse and pulled out her wallet.

Tom watched her intently. "You don't owe me that," he said flatly. "It's the least I can do after I kidnapped you, hm?" he placed his hand on her wrist. "Another date eventually, yeah? Where your motive is _not_ to get answers from me, but to enjoy each other."

And Jesus did Alexis feel like the scum of the Earth at that moment. Nodding stiffly she put her wallet away.

"I've gotta get back to work," she insisted. Standing, she kissed Tom on the cheek. "Thank you so much for this." And she left.

Mind racing, Lexi breathed, eyes closed as she stood there on the sidewalk. What had she done? Harvey probably hated her for taking Tom up on his lunch date idea. She never considered that this was a personal issue. She'd just thought this was some unsolved case that was on Harvey's plate before he became Captain. It never occurred to her that this could be more than just an 'I-messed-up-a-case' situation. How daft of her.

Glancing down the street, she tried to cross the busy road to get to her car. Mid-jog she spotted a familiar car parked and was surprised to see none other than Harvey Bullock behind the wheel. The passenger seat was empty and he hadn't noticed her. She opened the car door and set herself in the passenger seat. Harvey seemed startled.

"Were you following me?" she demanded.

"What? No, I…uh…" Harvey spoke and Lexi raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for an explanation. He had none. "It wasn't safe."

Lexi threw her head back, looking at the interior on the roof of his car. "I'm _fine,_ Harvey."

"Yeah, well, what if you weren't?"

She looked him square in the eye, opening the car door again. "Then it'd be another black mark on your record, now wouldn't it, Bullock?" He bit the inside of his cheek. "That's all this is about, right?" So maybe she shouldn't have said it but the sentence hung in the air and there was no taking it back.

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"You're right. I don't." She got out of the car then, slamming the door and storming down the street to where her own car was parked.

Harvey watched her go; watched the way her hips swayed as she stormed away, watched the anger basically radiating from her. Shit, did he do wrong. He'd always been good at saying the wrong thing. But now he knew: this little date with Tom _was_ only for information – about Harleen and Jack, about Harvey's role in all of it. He wondered just how much Tom spilled in their short meeting.

A sense of dread washed over him. Maybe a part of him had hoped to keep this all in the shadows of the past. Maybe he'd hoped to leave at least one person out of it. To one person he could seem like the good guy – the hero – not the washed up shell of what he used to be. He'd made mistake after mistake with Harleen and her death was on his hands. Having Alexis left in the dark was beneficial to him: one less person to think he was a rotten scumbag – yet here he was. If she didn't think it after what Tom told her, she sure as shit did now that she knew he was following her… _again_.

Running a hand down his face, he sighed then rested his head on the steering wheel. What the Hell was happening?


	9. Chapter 9

Harvey knew he shouldn't have told Jim about the mini-stakeout. Why would he ever take advice from Jim? The guy always managed to royally fuck things up. Granted, at the moment Harvey couldn't say he was doing much better.

Jim told him to just apologize; grab a dozen doughnuts, bring them to her desk in the morning. But that night made Harvey's annoyance grow even more. Who the Hell did Alexis think she was? He didn't owe her an explanation, even if she was involved in this. If this had been some random citizen who was taken by Tom, would he explain the situation in its entirety? No. So why would Lexi be any different? Because she worked there for a few weeks?

And just when his annoyance peaked he got a phone call. Unknown number but he answered and grumbled out a, "Yeah?"

"Bullock," came that smooth, accented voice.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Harvey set his whiskey glass down on his counter, leaning back against his fridge.

"Oh, what, am I forbidden from seeing your staff?"

Harvey fumed. "You leave her alone."

"Now how can I do that when she's here with me?" At Tom's words, Harvey silenced. "You still there, Harvey?"

He paused for a moment, debating if he should react or not. "Did you have news for me?"

A laugh. "Just that Jack is out again. Got a phone call before he left."

"That's it?"

"I'm sending someone after him."

"Good. Let me know," and he hung up before he could hear anything else.

Downing the rest of his drink, Harvey felt the burn in the back of his throat. Jim had given him Lexi's number and temptation was running strong. Calling to give her a piece of his mind probably wasn't the smartest idea he'd ever had but, damn it, what was she thinking playing this game with Tom? He wasn't a good guy. Maybe she was just playing head games after the stunt he pulled following her.

But Harvey had good intentions and if she didn't see that, it was her fault.

Unless she was siding with Tom after he spilled it all to her; after she learned of Harvey's sins.

Fuck, he was overthinking this. Snatching the bottle, he took it into the bedroom and slid off his dress shirt. He called Jim as he set the whiskey bottle on his nightstand.

"Hey, Harvey," Jim's voice was groggy and Harvey had to look at the clock to see just how late it was.

"Call Lexi for me."

"What?"

Harvey took a swig of whiskey, his lips popping off the bottle. "Just call her and ask her what she's doing."

There was shuffling on the other line. "I'm not doing that. Are you drinking?"

"Is that a serious question?"

"Why can't you call her?"

Harvey put the bottle down. "Tom just told me she's with him."

Jim was quiet. "Harv…"

"Look, I know you're gonna say that I'm just jealous or some shit, but level with me here," he paused. "He's a scumbag."

A loud sigh sounded. "Goodnight, Harvey…"

"Wait, Jim!" but the line went dead.

So for a good half hour Harvey sat on the bed, leaned against the headboard, sipping from the bottle, and trying to get the courage to call and see if Tom was telling the truth.

By the time the morning came and he'd showered and grabbed coffee, Harvey had a dark feeling in his chest that said Tom was telling the truth. Lexi was driven and it seemed like she'd put her own safety on the line to get the information she was seeking. So if she was there maybe Tom hadn't told her the story's entirety at lunch.

Anger had settled itself in his chest too; toward Jim for not sticking his neck out, Tom for bringing Lexi into that situation, Lexi for being so goddamn curious and fearless, and Jack for all of the destruction he caused. That anger followed him into work that morning. There would be no apology for Lexi; no doughnuts, no small talk. If she was with Tom last night, she surely knew everything that went down all those months ago. He had nothing to say to her.

And then she walked passed his office with Lucius, all cheery as she spoke with him and Harvey's annoyance grew even more.

"You still acting like someone pissed in your cheerios, Harvey?" Jim asked, leaning against the door of his office.

"Shut it."

Jim chuckled, shaking his head. "Requested the file on Dwight Pollard. You getting it or should I?"

Harvey grumbled, trudging passed him and toward the file room. He would just keep this professional; no irritation from her actions last night, no guilt for following her to lunch…

"Harvey," Lexi's voice came as he entered the room. He straightened, shifted his hands to his hips, then fixed his tie. "What do you want?" She wasn't being kind any longer; the agitation was evident in her voice and it just tipped Harvey over the edge.

"Came down here for a file," he snapped back. "Jim asked you to pull one and we don't have it yet."

"Haven't gotten to it yet but since you're here…" she trailed off, brushing passed him while running a hand down the files in search of the correct drawer.

Silence followed and Harvey found himself speaking before thinking. "If you were plannin' on givin' handouts to scumbags ya didn't have to look far."

Her fingers flipped through files until they paused on one. She pulled it out and handed it over, clear annoyance on her face. "What are you talking about?"

Was she really gonna play dumb? "I heard from the company you kept last night. I'm kinda rusty on things lately: is it customary to sleep with a guy after the first date?"

Her mouth dropped open. "Are you suggesting that I slept with Tom?" At that, Harvey raised a brow, shrugging slightly. When her open hand connected with his left cheek, Harvey was stunned. " _Asshole_."

She left him in her office – alone – flustered, cheek throbbing. Well, damn, if he didn't just gain more respect for her…

Walking out, file in hand, Jim caught the look on his face and furrowed his brow. "What's gotten into _you_?"

"Huh? What? Nothin'…" Harvey trailed off. "Got the file."

"…Right," Jim hummed, aware he wasn't getting the whole story.

•••

So maybe Harvey got off on her fire. Maybe he'd spent a little too long in the shower that night thinking about the fury and the feel of her open palm on his cheek. Maybe that was why he'd taken Jim's advice and bought a box of doughnuts, brought it in just before her shift, and sat at her desk. He wasn't _into her_ , he'd tried to convince himself, just aware that he liked a woman like that. She just happened to catch him at a time he was riled up.

Upon entering her office, Lexi bit the inside of her cheek at the sight of Harvey at her desk. Tempted to turn and walk back out, she huffed. His expression was unreadable so she approached with caution. Setting her purse down, she crossed her arms.

"Come to apologize?"

Harvey huffed a half laugh-half scoff. "You're unbearable," he said while standing, annoyance rising back up. Now looking down at her angry expression, Harvey felt a flutter in his chest. He bit his tongue. "But you're right. I was out of line yesterday."

"You _think_?" her hands went to her hips. "I know it was wrong of me to dig into this Jack thing, but yesterday…" she shook her head.

Harvey held up his hands. "I should've just called to make sure you were okay. Tom called and I just bought it."

She looked perplexed. "Tom called you?"

"To tell me that he was getting someone to follow Napier. And that you were there. I just assumed-"

"-I was _never_ at Tom's place. We only went to lunch so…" she glanced away.

Tentatively, Harvey asked, "So…?"

"…So I could ask him about Jack," she admitted. Harvey remained silent. "He didn't tell me much – just that it was a personal issue for you." He bit his tongue again, expression grim. "I'm sorry, Harvey! That hadn't even crossed my mind. I didn't think…-"

He shrugged. "Nah, we're even." Motioning to the doughnuts, he offered her seat back.

Thanking him, she grabbed a maple doughnut. "We really aren't," she spoke honestly.

"What?" he grabbed a glazed and bit into it.

"I didn't accuse you of bending some chick over, now did I?"

Coughing, basically choking on his food, he was surprised by her words. " _Jesus_!" The _mouth_ on her.

She narrowed her eyes at him but there wasn't fury anymore, just humor. "You owe me, Captain."

Harvey wondered if the heat suddenly came on in the room. "I brought you doughnuts – what else do you want? Dinner and dancing?"

She smirked at him. "Hm…maybe. But an explanation would do just fine, thanks."

Swallowing hard, he sat in the seat across from her, slowly wiping his fingers on a napkin. The long pause had him hoping she'd interrupt the silence, tell him she could wait; that she was just pushing because she was still pissed. The interruption never came.

"Jack Napier is a scumbag," he started. "Did a lot of shady shit."

When he didn't continue, she shook her head. "I gathered that. What did he do to you?"

The pause was brief this time because word vomit crept its way up his throat and he'd been swallowing it down for too long. "He killed my girlfriend," he spoke it quickly, louder than he'd expected, staring at her hands. Gaze meeting hers now, he struggled to read her expression and felt so small and pathetic with that pity in her eyes.

After a few moments, she asked, "Was your girlfriend Harleen?"

"She went by 'Elizabeth' but yes," he said tightly.

He'd hoped she was done with the questioning – that this was finally _enough_ for her. No such luck. "What does Tom have to do with all of this?"

Back to _Tom_ of course. Annoyance crept back up his spine. " _Tom_ tricked us into thinking he was on our side to kill Jack. Turned out he was working with him all along. Tom is the reason Harleen was _in_ that situation." He almost said, 'why she died in my arms,' but that was his own fault for not pushing through the pain of a bullet in the belly – for not getting there fast enough to save her.

Alexis nodded slowly, gears turning in her head and he wondered how transparent he was to her. "Tom said the two of them left Gotham and hid out because there was 'a price on their heads.' You were going to go after them."

Rubbing his temples, Harvey exhaled through his nose. "Look, can we – can we just…not do this right now?"

There was that pity again. "Of course. It's probably hard on you." They were quiet a tick until her hands enveloped his on the desk. "I didn't mean to stir up trouble by seeing Tom. I just got worried and impatient, but he didn't give me the whole story either." Not to mention lying to Harvey about her. What had Tom filled Harvey's head with? What kinds of things did Harvey think she was _doing_ with Tom last night, she wondered. She could imagine…

Harvey's interest piqued. "He didn't?" She shook her head. Before he could respond his phone rang. Getting up, he kept his gaze on her. This was why he didn't talk about Elizabeth Harleen – not only was it difficult, but the pure pity he'd see every time he spoke of her made his blood pressure rise. He much preferred Alexis' anger to her sadness. "You owe me $5.49 for the doughnuts."

Alexis' mouth fell open as he answered his phone. He laughed at her, winking before walking out the door.

Alexis held her head, trying to shake off a smile at the Captain's antics. He appeared to cover his pain with humor and she got the feeling it made him uncomfortable when people showed him compassion. He didn't want to divulge too much into this Harleen situation which stirred up even more interest.

Yet he'd been nicer to her at least and she quite liked their interactions. Heat bubbled in her chest at the thought of it. What was she doing? Hadn't her father always warned her about these types of situations? And yet here she was eating breakfast her boss bought her, pining over his own personal affairs. Why didn't she just _drop it_ ; recognize that Tom involved her in a bizarre situation, respect Harvey's desire for privacy, and move on. Because she couldn't. It was in her nature to dig deeper and maybe she was just a little curious about this Harleen…

•••

"Tom, this is _not_ a good time," Harvey's phone was pressed to his ear as he made his way up to his office. "This couldn't wait?"

"You've missed three calls from me, Captain. Thought you were more interested than that," Tom's accent droned through the line.

Rolling his eyes, Harvey paced the room. "Stop sounding like my high school girlfriend and start feedin' me the goods. What'cha got?"

"Well, thought you'd like to know that there's a little fan-group of miscreants all obsessed over this Jerome guy."

Harvey narrowed his eyes. He and Jim had only just stumbled across that information the night before; guns blazing in their little warehouse meeting and all. "And how do you know this?"

"Told you I sent someone after Jack last night. S'where he was," Tom spoke it simply, as if Jack fawning over Jerome was unsurprising. "And then he went to the docks again."

"The docks?"

Cringing, Harvey settled himself in a seat. Fish Mooney had often used those docks for bartering and storage; sometimes a hideout when things got bad. Last he saw Hugo Strange, he was at her mercy. He tried to shake off the connection this made to the theory Tom had at the diner all those nights ago.

Maybe Hugo was plotting something and maybe he needed Jack's help in doing so. The insanity that Strange could concoct was enough for nightmares. He'd brought Fish back from the dead, hadn't he? And now with the possibility of Jerome…

Harvey held his breath a moment, caught up once again in the thought that Harleen could be his next project. Heartrate increasing, palms sweating, Harvey breathed unsteady. Shit…

"Are you still with me, Captain?" Tom's voice returned through the speaker. "Because I have a proposition for you."

"What?"

"That is: if you think you're ready."

Harvey bit his tongue; pretty damn sure he knew where this was going. "What's that?"

"You and Fish Mooney were buddies for quite some time, or are rumors untrue?" At Tom's question, Harvey rubbed the bridge of his nose and remained silent. "Push a little; talk to your little freak show and ask her what Hugo's involved in right now."

"Not a good idea," Harvey grunted, standing suddenly. "Fish and I ain't on good terms at the moment and I don't have the time or the muscle to rekindle that."

"Just a phone call then."

"No."

Tom was silent a beat, clearly agitated. "Then I'll get my muscle to question her."

Harvey shrugged though he knew Tom couldn't see. "If you can afford to have them killed."

Tom didn't reply once again and Harvey knew he had him. It takes time to build up worthy men to work under you. Time and money and after all that time running from Gotham, Tom didn't have that.

"Suggestion still stands. Jack's getting antsy about something and he's getting careless. It's time you stepped forward." The line went dead, a beep alerting Harvey that the call ended.

Tempted to toss the stupid thing at the wall, Harvey pocketed it, grabbed his hip flask, unscrewed it, and took a hefty gulp. Fuck, he wanted to get outta here; grab a bite to eat, get shitfaced so he didn't have to think about all of this.

But there Jim was to alert him of new occurrences; Jerome Valeska's body was found in a storage facility. An eerie feeling overcame him when he got there and stared into the cryogenic tube – painted with a bunch of 'ha-ha-ha's. A bunch of tubes contained other bodies, other psychos that Hugo Strange stored at Indian Hill – all moved to this facility.

Clearly Dwight's trial run was the woman who walked out of the morgue.

"He's gonna bring back Jerome," Jim piped up, breaking Harvey out of his thoughts. "What do you think about this empty one?"

A sense of dread befell him, his skin tingling, arm hairs standing on end.

"I don't know," he lied.

Jim saw right through it. "Harvey, what's going on?"

"Jim- I…"

A shuffling noise dragged Jim's attention away and Harvey breathed a sigh of relief. That was not a conversation he was willing to have at the moment. Jim was thankfully distracted during their time in the warehouse when Harvey was eyeing the empty pod. Jim found a Jerome fanatic hiding away behind some boxes. After arresting him, they put him in the back of his car and Harvey took off to GCPD.

"You think it's Harleen?" Jim asked. Harvey didn't answer. "I mean, it's possible."

"Jim," Harvey spoke in a warning tone, eyes never leaving the road.

His partner paused, breathing deep. "I know it's hard, but I think you need answers."

"What I _need_ is a bottle of Jack and a lap dance from a pretty lady – not to dig into the ghosts of my past!"

Nothing else was said the entirety of the ride. When they arrived, Harvey let Jim take the perp into the lab for interrogation while he returned to his office to brood. Sure, he had paperwork piled and forms to sign, but his mind went straight to that empty pod. Hugo was collecting bodies, they were aware of that and those bodies they found were clearly meant to be used for his reanimation project. If he managed to find Harleen…

"Sir?" came a voice, startling Harvey and causing him to look away from the window he was staring out of. Alexis peeked in the door. He didn't motion her in but she came in anyway, a large cup of coffee in her hands. "It's not your cash for the doughnuts, but I grabbed you a venti. Figured you could use it."

Harvey breathed a sigh of relief at the distraction, clasping her on the shoulder.

"You know I was joking," he shook his head.

Smiling, she nodded. "Oh, yeah. I just thought…" she shrugged. "Been a long day already."

"For you too?" he sipped the coffee, humming softly at the much-needed boost.

He swore he saw her blush. "I'll let you get back to it."

"No, no. Come on: sit." He offered up the chair in front of his desk. She took a seat as he rounded the desk. Settling in, he watched the expression on her face with the silence following. "So…" he scratched the back of his neck. "You…uh you liking it here?"

She nodded softly. "It feels familiar, which I like." Harvey scrunched up his eyebrows as he sipped his coffee. "My dad was a cop so I'm kinda used to the hustle."

"Oh, really? Where did he work?" Hadn't Jim told him that?

"Rochester," she responded.

"I've got a good buddy workin' out there. He still there? Maybe they know each other."

She sadly shook her head. "He passed away when I was 17."

"Oh," Harvey managed. "Shit, I'm sorry."

"No, it's alright." She quieted for a moment. "I think he'd be pissed I was working here if he was still around."

"Why's that?"

She shrugged. "Gotham was where he grew up. He never wanted me to come back here but we'd come on family vacations and I've always felt drawn to it." The way she spoke about the city made Harvey envious; he hadn't seen the city that way since he was a kid. "Not to mention if he found out I was working for GCPD." She whistled.

Harvey nodded, sipping his coffee again, trying to fight off the thoughts about the empty pod and Jim. "So how hard was it having a dad who was a cop?"

Alexis thought on this. "Pretty rough. Especially when it came to dating. He chased every boy off; made them fear him." She wondered why she'd decided to divulge the truth about her young dating life. "He had good intentions though so I couldn't complain too much." The silence that followed made Alexis nervous it seemed. "Look, Harvey, I-"

Lucius entered the office in a rush, a map in hand. He excused himself for interrupting but proceeded to lay the map across Harvey's desk.

"You asked what Dwight would need to revive Jerome? That girl, Melanie Blake – his test subject – she received thousands of volts of electricity. That amount would cause…"

"-A surge," Alexis muttered. Looking up at the two surprised men she smiled sheepishly. "Alvarez has kept me up to date on this Jerome guy." She looked pointedly at Harvey. "That's what I was about to mention to you. Remember I told you about that guy at the music shop? The one with the scars on his face?" Harvey inhaled sharply. "That was Jerome."

"Wait, hold up – what?" Harvey held his hand in front of his face.

"That doesn't make any sense," Lucius voiced.

Alexis nodded. "Which is why I didn't say anything until now. The timeline doesn't match up. I started thinking maybe it was one of those fanatics trying to impersonate him or something."

Jim rushed by the office then, wide-eyed and breathless. "Jim, hey!" Harvey called, ready to fill him in on the new info.

Jim stopped dead, turned, and hustled into the office. "The perp talked. Told me this isn't the first time they've resurrected Jerome."

"How is that possible?" Harvey shook his head, pure disbelief evident.

"He said some of Fish's men got him. He was up and walking for a good few hours before they killed him and took his body."

"Then why put him back in that cryogenic tube?" Lucius wondered aloud.

Jim shrugged. "Storage I guess. There were a few more bodies that went missing first," Jim looked pointedly at Harvey. "Guess he wasn't on the priority list for Fish."

"So now that Dwight was successful with someone, they planned to take Jerome back and make it happen."

"But what would Fish want with Jerome?" Jim asked, gaze never leaving Harvey.

He breathed, "Heard Fish was workin' with Hugo Strange still."

"And who'd you hear that from?" Jim droned.

Harvey pursed his lips. "Tom," he finally managed.

Alexis was confused with all the names and information flying but knowing that Jerome was once dead, resurrected, came into the record shop, and interacted with her? That freaked her out to no end.

"Alexis, are you alright?" Lucius was the first to see that she was clearly shaken.

"No she's not alright – of _course_ she's not alright. Some psycho freakoid zombie visited her at work," Harvey piped up.

"I'm fine," she tried to assure them. "Let me know if you need anything." She got up and managed to make it out of the room, feeling their eyes on her the whole way.

Air; she needed air.


End file.
